


We Are The Innocent Ones

by mikeyskies



Category: A Little Less Sixteen Candles a Little More "Touch Me" - Fall Out Boy (Song), Bandom, Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is...
Genre: Alternate Universe - A Little Less Sixteen Candles (Music Video), Alternate Universe - Vampire, Canon Jewish Character, Child Death, Dandies, Dom/Fertile, Family, M/M, Post Mpreg, Revenge, Vampire Hunters, Vampire William Beckett, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:29:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 43,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikeyskies/pseuds/mikeyskies
Summary: Pete was on enemy territory and he knew it. He was the hunter every Dandy in the entire world feared and despised, and the one William Beckett would have given anything to kill. But Pete didn't need to worry about him anymore. After all, Beckett had been dead for three months. Pete should know- he killed him himself.He hadn't expected a warm welcome when his assassination of William's partner had gone awry, much less in fact. What he didn't expect was discovering a decades long conspiracy that overturned everything Pete once thought he knew.
Relationships: Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz (one sided), Ryan Ross/Brendon Urie, William Beckett/Gabe Saporta
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	We Are The Innocent Ones

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! so this fic is going to be a quick 2-parter, I've been working on it for almost 11 months now, and it's really exciting to finally put it out there! 
> 
> quick readers notes:
> 
> For those of you not familiar with the dom/fertile dynamic, I believe it first appeared in works by nothingdlioncourt with their Red Darkness series - it's basically a separate gender distinction among born vampires. It's explained a little in the fic, but all that's necessary to understand is that doms can impregnate and fertiles can get pregnant, regardless of being male or female. This is an mpreg, but most of the fic is after the baby is born.
> 
> anything in italics is a flashback, if you have any questions/need clarifications, lmk
> 
> I want to give a huge shout out to my writing bff @ pixeldreamer - she's amazing, go check out her gabilliam vampire fic if you haven't, it's one of my obsessions. She also alpha/beta read this entire thing so that deserves its own merit
> 
> I have so much intensive world building that I did for this fic, so if you want to hear more, or if you just want to chat, hmu on wattpad, i'm @petekeyskies ! thanks for reading

Pete Wentz hated flying. He didn’t know if it were his vampire instincts, or a simple human anxiety, but his hatred of airplanes was not deemed enough of a concern to inhibit the hunters from buying him a ticket to Scotland. It was a red-eye flight, allowing him to sit comfortably in the window without worrying about burns from the sun, and no one would judge him for going to the hotel and sleeping all day.  
  
He pulled his hoodie tight as he boarded the plane in O’Hare, wrapping the thin material around himself. For a transatlantic flight, it was a small aircraft, and he could comfortably take his seat at the window, kicking his backpack to his feet. He plugged in his headphones as the plane took off, seat beside him remaining empty.  
  
Mid-flight, the stewardess came around with the meal on the flight, which Pete declined. He instead emptied two small packets of powder into his water bottle, nursing his Aspirin and iron supplement concoction while he slipped himself a Xanax to calm his nerves. He hated every minute of it.  
  
He didn’t know why he had to be the one to do it. After all, isn’t he the last person they should want visiting? He killed William Beckett, after all. He was the reason every vampire in the world had their life thrust into insecurity. Every vampire in the world, friend or foe of Beckett’s, had reason to want him dead. The Dandies were the largest gang in the world, protecting millions of bloodthirsty murderers. Their connections and their networking was unmatched. Well, until Pete destroyed their beacon, and prepared to burn it all to the ground, of course. He grumbled, looking out the window down at the twinkling lights of Greenland, he assumed. He could be there in some quaint little town, surrounded by picturesque snow and not a worry in sight. But no, he had to be the one to save the world.  
  
He had only been to the Dandies’ castle once before, and even then, he had only seen the lower level. The castle had been in Beckett’s family for millennia, long before the Dandies were even called the Dandies. That was a rather recent development, one that came with Beckett’s father or grandfather. Funny what was considered relevant, after all those years. Beckett had taken him to the castle shortly after turning him. Pete knew he should have been grateful to have been regarded as a guest, by a man feared and revered by so many.  
  
_“Not many people are turned by the lead Dandy himself, you know,” Beckett had crooned, cane tapping as he strutted across the cobblestone floor. He moved with ease, despite his twisted leg, gloved hand raping the cane against the floor in perfect stride with his healthy leg. “It’s really quite the honor.”  
  
“It is?” Pete stuttered, shuffling behind the much taller man, trying not to catch on Beckett’s over dramatic cape.  
  
Beckett gave him a sly smile and led him into a room full of bookshelves extending into a second story. Every slot on the shelf was packed, books that didn’t fit stacked on top, or in piles on the side. Cabinets containing treasures from millennia of exploration and purchase. The room reeked of the must of a library, and a gentle warm light from hazy oil lamps filled the space. It looked like the study of a grand gentleman of the turn of the twentieth century. Beckett sprawled out across a chaise, gesturing for Pete to sit down on the sofa. “You like it in here?”  
  
Pete nodded softly, still taking it all in. “It’s…incredible.”  
  
William flashed a fanged smile. “Designed by my father. It’s a little outdated, I’m aware, but we appreciate the nostalgia. Everyone here has left something behind, so every room has its own character. Some is more likable than others, I must assure you. We just re-did the guest bathroom last decade, hadn’t been updated since the eighteen fifties. How dreadful,” Beckett rolled his eyes, reaching for the tea pot currently resting on the silver tray on the table in front of them. He poured himself a cup, taking a slow, savoring sip. “You read at all?”  
  
Pete gulped nodding once more. “Sometimes. I used to read a lot of Hemingway.” That seemed to be the correct response.  
  
“Ah, how wonderful, a man of true culture!” Beckett clapped. “Of course, my dom and I only met Ernest himself a couple of times, but a truly charming fellow. A real hit with the ladies. Real shame about that suicide though.” He tsked, setting his cup down.  
  
Pete’s jaw dropped. “You…you met him? How?”  
  
“Well, my Dom is fan of spirits, and I promised I would show him around Paris, so we were stumbling around, and we happened to run into another couple, just as inebriated as we were! Or was it Spain? Perhaps it was Spain. Regardless, I, of course, thought they’d be a delicious snack, but Gabriel convinced me to give them a shot. Lovely people, truly, invited us to their home in Key West once we were both back in the States. Never took them up on that offer though,” William dropped another sugar in his tea, stirring it around. “Do you take your tea with clotted cream?”  
  
Pete shook his head, still amazed. “You…you couldn’t have…”  
  
Beckett laughed. “How old do you think I am, Peter?”  
  
“25, maybe 30,” Pete shrugged. “I don’t know.”  
  
“I was born in 1900. Gabriel was born 1894. Can you believe it? He’s six years older than me. What a scandal!” Beckett laughed. “Of course, those were different times.”  
  
Pete looked shell shocked. “But…you don’t look…” He but his lip, trying to do the math in his head.  
  
“It’s never polite to ask a lady’s age, Peter,” he chuckled, checking his nails. “Did you think I was kidding?”  
  
“About what? Hemingway?”  
  
“No. Did you think I didn’t mean it when I said you could live forever?”  
  
Pete shook his head. “No, but- “  
  
“You will live forever, Pete. Stay young and beautiful all you want. Eat and drink anything, never worrying about your figure. All you have to do is drink a little blood here and there. It’s simple. I could tell from the moment I set eyes on you, that you’d be a great vampire.”  
  
“But I mean… you didn’t give me a choice,” Pete winced, hands getting shaky. “I wouldn’t have said yes to this?”  
  
“You mean…” William quirked a brow, “You didn’t want to be a vampire?”  
  
“I just thought you were another one of those suicide helpline people that my mom sends over to check on me some times. I wanted to die. I thought I was going to get to die.” He cuffed his hands in his hoodie. “But…now I have to kill people? Just to live?”  
  
“You make it sound that bad- “  
  
“It is that bad!” Pete shouted. “You’re taking innocent lives, for what? Eternal youth? Tradition?”  
  
“Well, if I had known you were such a bastard-“ William muttered.  
  
“I don’t want anything to do with you! You, or any of your horrible, horrible friends!” Pete quaked, tears flowing down his cheek.  
  
“Very well then. My guards will show you the door,” William sat up, striking his cane on the hardwood floor. Two men rushed in, and Pete felt powerless as they dragged his panic-stricken body out. “What a shame, Wentz,” Beckett crooned as the door closed behind him, “You could have been great. What a shame.”_  
  
Pete shook himself out of the memory as his plane touched down. He grabbed his backpack from the floor and hurried himself off of the aircraft. He made it through customs with ease, waiting outside before his taxi pulled up. Joe had ordered one especially for him. Shaded windows and all black interior. He couldn’t get burned in the vehicle if he wanted to. The ride to the hotel was quick, and Pete quickly checked himself in, before preparing for the next night. He accounted for the weather this time in assessing the maps and the entry point for the castle. They had someone on the inside, a Dandy named Brendon, who would leave the window open on the third story at the front where the cobblestones were easiest to climb. Pete would then go down the hallway and wrap around the building to where the master bedroom is.  
  
By nightfall, he had everything prepared. He had never met Brendon, but Patrick trusted him, and he trusted Patrick. The transport to the castle was provided by Brendon and was once again plastered with blackout curtains on each window. It effectively worked as both a shield and a blindfold, a suspicion that Pete pushed from his mind. The kid had stuck to his word, for the most part, leaving a window unlatched on the third story. What he failed to leave out was the windows small size, as Pete struggled to maneuver himself through the small frame. It took him a while, but it was worth it- he was in.  
  
Pete’s heels moved silently down the hall, vampire stealth hiding any trace. He wasn’t here on reconnaissance. He was here with a purpose. The dimly lit hallway cast shadows up and down the wall, his own lack of shadow only more eerie in the darkness.  
  
Eventually, he came upon a fireplace, mantle adorned with a few candles and a painting, as describe to him by their inside man. _A portrait of Beckett and his Dom_ , Brendon had explained, leaving out any qualification that would lead Pete to understand the magnitude of the painting. The fireplace itself was large enough for him to stand up straight under, with a well-kept, roaring fire. Someone was keeping watch over this area of the castle. He had to act quickly.  
  
Yet he couldn’t help but become transfixed by the painting. In the lower left corner, Beckett sat poised, grey suit pressed and tailored, gloved hands gripped softly around his cane, a dainty, yet intimidating stance. His hair was styled in a way that accented his flawless skin, beauty mark below the left eye only bringing out the doe-like qualities about it. His makeup was impeccable. Behind him, to his right, a tall dark figure stood. His hair was black, tight curls gelled back against his scalp, framing his face. His skin was darker than Beckett’s, and his nose had a smattering of light freckles. His eyes were deep and mysterious, small but intriguing. His black tailored suit embraced his boxy frame, while hand gripped tightly around Beckett’s shoulder. While Beckett was his fertile, there was no confusion about who had the power.  
  
Pete knew very little for certain about Beckett’s Dom. He was taller than Beckett, and incredibly handsome. Some say Beckett found him in New York, others say he was whisked from South America, some wealthy vampire child descended from the silver mining empire of the golden age of exploration. Beckett would tease information about his ferocious Dom with a sense of elegance, discussing their century of romance and sexual escapades with the ease of a liar. Despite their decades of courtship, the couple had failed to produce an heir. Beckett assured the bloodline would surpass him eventually, but he and Gabriel were waiting for the time to be right. But Beckett has been dead for three months. Pete would know- he killed him himself.  
  
A breeze of the cool Scottish wind caused Pete to shiver, drawing his attention back to the roaring fire. Someone would be around soon to tend to the fire and sweep the ashes. He recounted the spy’s directions, turning right at the painting, and following the hall through the dark until he reached a large door on his left.  
  
The candle next to the door was running low, and he dug around in his hoodie pocket for his penlight key chain and shined it on the door. As promised, the light showed an embossed rose design, which dripped blood in the faded light. The door was unlocked. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door- it swung without a creak.  
  
The antiquity of the castle couldn’t have prepared Pete for the splendor inside the bedroom. While the surrounding halls had mocked the exact of a medieval castle, the interior of the master bedroom was a time capsule of the roaring 20s. A tall ceiling bolstered lofty molding and a patterned linoleum tiling. The floor was a sleek black marble, rising in the middle to provide a pedestal for a king-sized bed, with ruby red curtains pulled shut around it. The chandelier was electric, less gothic with a hint of Art Deco. The vanity and mirrored accents were purely for decoration, with vibrant plants sprouting from silver pots, as floor length curtains covered floor to ceiling windows. The room must look out on the courtyard, they would cast too much suspicion from the outside otherwise.  
  
Beckett and his lover were a product of the 20s, of the elegance, wealth, and splendor, without losing a dime during the following recession. While the times had evolved, their tastes sure hadn’t. Four doors led out from the room. One that Pete had walked in from. One to a closet, one to a bathroom, and one for a dressing room, he assumed.  
  
He crept inside only for the door to slam shut behind him. He jumped, dropping the penlight to place a hand on his gun. He grabbed the magazine from his jeans pocket and loaded it, not caring about a silencer. Once the deed was done, it was over.  
  
He heard the click of a light switch as the chandelier flooded the room with light. Pete winced, instinctively pulling up his hoodie, and raising his pistol. “I’ll shoot. Don’t fucking move.” He shouted eyes flashing up at source of the sound.  
  
A cold laugh echoed. A man in a long black evening robe stepped from the shadows. He was tall, almost a foot taller than Pete. His dark curly hair had sprung in a thousand directions at once, and he looked daintier, less brazen in person. He walked towards him, allowing the robe to fan out behind him. “Well, well, well,” He crooned, room growing colder by the minute. His accent was New York, one of the Long Island boroughs, but with a hint of romantic flavor. “Who’s this?”  
  
Pete gulped, hand beginning to quake around his pistol. “Stop. I mean it. I came here to shoot you.”  
  
The tall vampire stopped leisurely, resting against a coffee table and checking his watch. “I understand,” he teased, deep voice rolling through the words, cracking like a smoker’s. “You killed Bilvy. Why wouldn’t you kill me too?”  
  
“You know who I am?”  
  
“Of course. You’re Pete Wentz. You murdered my Bill. My partner. My mate.”  
  
“You and Beckett had no children.”  
  
“You have no way of knowing that we had not mated. Regardless of offspring.”  
  
“Yeah, right, I know that you and your _partner_ were childless. Your precious fertile died without giving himself an heir. I kill you, the Dandy bloodline ends. Your reign of terror ends tonight.”  
  
The Dom paled slightly. Pete smirked, tightening his grip on the gun. “You already took my love from me. You insist on taking my life too?” His words were shaky.  
  
“Drop the act, we know your death means the end of the line. He may have been the leader, but you were his Dom, his husband. Your death will bring the end of- “  
  
The wail of a child struck the walls, reverberating against the cavernous room. Pete turned to face the noise as the taller vampire vanished, as Beckett often had done. Pete ran towards the door on the other side of the bed where the crying progressively got louder before stopping abruptly. He yanked at the locked door, pulling at the handle before fetching a lock pic from his jeans pocket.  
  
_There’s a child in here, oh God, not a child_ , Pete couldn’t believe it, mind racing as he flung the door open, watching the tall figure stand over the cradle. The man stood up at the crack, pulling an infant to his chest. The infant, wrapped in a pink and grey blanket, was tiny. She couldn’t have been more than a month old.  
  
“The child. Drop it,” Pete barked, blood rushing in his ears. “Let her go.”  
  
The tall man swallowed hard, holding the baby tight, and taking a deep breath. “You want the bloodline to end? You want the Dandies to be done? Fine.” He wiped a single tear from his eye, as he looked back down at the tiny baby in his arms. Pete kept his weapon steady “Do it. End William Beckett’s bloodline. Shoot us. Both of us,” he closed his eyes. “She has to die for you to accomplish your mission. We both know it.”  
  
Pete’s eyes widened at the tall figure, clutching the small bundle close. He approached slowly, gun still cocked. The man stayed still, glaring as Pete walked up. “Do it. You heard me. Finish us off. Finish us all off. Shoot a baby. I _dare_ you.”  
  
Pete froze in his tracks as the man’s grasp on the baby never loosened. She curled tightly to his chest, starting to whimper at his voice. The man still didn’t let his guard down. Pete sighed, slowly lowering his pistol.  
  
A wicked smile crossed the man’s face. “I knew you couldn’t kill an infant. Not even William Beckett’s flesh and blood. You know, that’s why I didn’t have Brendon capture you the moment you-“  
  
“Brendon works for _us_ you piece of shit!”  
  
The man cocked an eyebrow. “Oh really?” Pete could feel the smooth, metallic barrel of a revolver pressed behind his right ear.  
  
“I’m sorry, Pete,” Brendon’s voice whispered in his ear, and Pete felt a wave of dread come over him. A cloth came down over his mouth and everything went dark.

* * *

The floor was damp and cold. Pete couldn’t see much in the dim light, but he could feel the tension of shackles keeping him against the wall. Somewhere, water dripped, leaving a plunk on the concrete floor every drop. He was alone.  
  
“Hello? Is anyone here?” Pete stood up, feeling the shackles tighten around both his wrists and arms. “What do you want from me? What the fuck do you want from me?”  
  
The click of heels across the floor caused him to tense up. He hissed, as the man from upstairs turned on the light.  
  
“No need to get confrontational here, Peter.” The man clicked his tongue, looking into the cell where Pete was being kept. The bars were rusty, but structurally sound, and Pete’s chains didn’t even reach the door. He was trapped. “In fact, I believe you’re the one that killed my fertile.”  
  
“Can you drop the fucking charade already? I know he’s not your fertile. Or that’s not his baby.”  
  
The man tensed. “I don’t have the time for this.”  
  
“Your name is Gabriel, right?” Pete’s mouth felt dry. “He told me about you once. How you met Hemingway?”  
  
“You knew _nothing_ about William, Peter. Do you understand me?” Gabriel’s voice chilled Pete to the bone. He blinked and the much taller man’s face was inches from his own. “You’re a murderer.”  
  
“And you’re not?” Pete seethed. “I’m trying to save innocent lives!”  
  
“So was William!” Gabe retorted, reappearing behind the cell bars. “Here.” He kicked a water bottle through the grate towards Pete. Pete could smell the blood through the plastic. He opened it  
  
“I’m not drinking this.” He gagged. The stench of real, human blood was overpowering. “Someone…I’m not drinking blood that someone had to die for.”  
  
Gabriel laughed. “Where do you think we got that blood?”  
  
“You killed someone for it?”  
  
“Over 1 million pints of blood are thrown out by the Red Cross alone every year. Even more by small donation banks.”  
  
“So you fucking take donations-“  
  
“Brendon calls it dumpster diving. I prefer… reducing waste.” The man sighed. “If you don’t drink it, I know a little girl in need of something to drink, especially now that someone killed her mother- “  
  
“William died three months ago. That baby’s like, a week old, at most.”  
  
“You don’t know anything about my baby girl.” The lights flickered in the hall and Pete felt a sense of dread creep over him. He remembered one thing, something Patrick had told him years ago, when reading the hunters manual.  
  
_“If a child’s life is at stake, a fertile can become even more powerful than her dom in order to protect their children.”_  
  
Pete stared back into Gabriel’s cold, dark eyes, feeling the chill setting in and infecting each and every one of his bones. This was none of William’s floating teacups or silly teleporting games. This was new magic, filling him with the same terror and pain that fueled its power. Pete’s body began to shake, throat dry, lips bleeding as Gabriel sighed and Pete felt the dread leave his body.  
  
“I have to be going. Are you going to drink that? Or should I- “  
  
“I’ll take it.”  
  
And in an instant, Gabriel was gone.  
  


* * *

  
“Gabe, do you want me to do something with him?”  
  
The tall man shook his head, letting out a deep breath as he picked up the tiny infant in the crib. “No, it’s alright Brendon. Don’t worry about it.”  
  
“But Gabe- “  
  
“It’s okay, Bren. You did really good tonight. I’m proud of you,” Gabe turned to face the younger vampire, bouncing his baby gently. “I want you to take the night off. Hell, take the rest of your life off. Your debt was with Bilvy, not me.”  
  
Brendon shook his head, sitting down on the arm of the chair. “What debt? You taking us into your home and your family? I’m not here because I’m your fucking servant. I’m here cause you’re my friend, Gabe.”  
  
Gabe sighed. “I’m sorry. I know. You’re my friend too. I just… thanks for luring him in. I…I’m not William. But knowing that he was out there…”  
  
“Take your time, Gabe,” Brendon sighed. “I wanted that son of a bitch in our custody just as much as you did.”  
  
He nodded, stroking the baby’s soft, downy hair. She whimpered a little, and he kissed the top of her head softly. “Shhh, it’s okay, meyn sheifale. It’s okay.”  
  
“What does that mean?”  
  
“Huh?” Gabe turned back to look at the vampire, resting his head on his baby’s. “What does what mean?”  
  
“Sheifale. You used it with… I don’t know, you’ve just only called the kids that. Never Bill, I just never asked.” Brendon shrugged. “I’m curious.”  
  
Gabe chuckled, looking down at his tiny daughter. “It’s Yiddish for ‘my little lamb’. I haven’t spoken Yiddish since the 1910s, when my mom ran away, and my dad learned English. But the little things stuck, you know? The things you call the ones most precious to you, they stay.”  
  
Brendon nodded. “Yeah. I know. I mean, I don’t, I’m from Utah. But I get it.”  
  
He smiled a genuine smile, one of the first ones Brendon had seen in months. “I’m serious, get out of here, scram. Take a bath or something. Use my bathtub, for fucks sake. You did a good job tonight.”  
  
“Wow, you’re really feeling generous, huh?”  
  
“Shut up and take care of yourself, Urie,” Gabe rolled his eyes, sitting next to him in the thick chair and putting his feet up on the ottoman, patting his baby’s back. “I’m practically your father, you know. Who knows where you’d be if Bill and I didn’t basically adopt you and Ryan as our weird gay sons- “  
  
“Oh come on, Gabe, William’s the one that chose to turn us, it’s not like you had to approve. And besides, you’re the one that needs a bath. You have to keep yourself clean, you just had a baby five days ago, and you haven’t taken a single moment to yourself. Don’t make me- “  
  
“Fine, then, use the guest bathroom. But I’m making my own breakfast tomorrow, Brendon. Don’t you even think about it.”  
  
“Geez, you’re such a bummer.” Brendon stuck out his tongue and Gabe sighed. He looked to the taller man, resting a hand on his shoulder, reaching up to wipe a tear from his eye. “We got him. He’s in our custody. He’s not going to hurt any more babies.”  
  
Gabe nodded, wiping a tear as he watched Brendon leave, before devoting all of his attention to his perfect baby girl. She blinked up at him, dark eyes wide in amazement. Her hair was coming in dark auburn, similar to his mother’s, but there was something about her face that was so distinctly Courtney Beckett. “You have your auntie’s nose, Miss. I think you got her eyebrows too.” He chuckled.  
  
Every year, the list of people that knew their secret grew smaller. The family separated, hunters grew in territory. His father and stepmom got a phone call announcing the baby’s birth, and Gabe sent a letter to Courtney and her wife, wherever they were in the middle of nowhere Colorado. She was less off grid than his own brother, who had disappeared to the same South American peninsula where he and Gabe were born, to hide out a few decades ago. In that same train of thought, his mother knew. That is, if the hunters didn’t get her too. He hadn’t seen her in 96 years. She wouldn’t even care.  
  
He sat up, grabbing a clean onesie and diaper from the dresser, and taking his little girl with him into the bathroom. He started the tub, undressing her and throwing her dirty onesie in the laundry hamper. “Are you ready for a little bath, baby girl?” He cooed, rubbing her tummy as he shed his bathrobe, and climbed into the bath with her on his shoulder. She squealed at the warm water touching her skin, but Gabe held her confidently.  
  
Contrary to what some hunters and humans believed, he was not completely anaerobic, as most born vampires were not. Without oxygen, a fertile vampire like Gabe would probably die within a few weeks. Perhaps a day, for a little baby, but breathing was less of a priority and more of an adaptation to help blend in with surroundings. They got oxygen through the blood they drank if they were lucky, and through breathing if not. Gabe was careful to keep his baby’s head above water but wasn’t worried about her having fun and splashing around.  
  
He washed her hair and body gently, allowing her to rest against him as he let the warm water soothe his body. Birth fucking hurt, and his body needed a break from all of the diplomacy. Ryan had convinced him to shave a few nights ago, to take the cloths off the mirrors, start healing again. _“Shivas been over for months, Gabe. You’re depressed and none of this is helping. Your baby needs you now. Bill needs you to be there for her. You need to heal.”  
_  
He hated to say it, but Ryan was right. His baby girl needed him to be a parent far more than William’s soul needed him to continue grieving. Birth fucking hurt, but giving birth alone hurt more.  
  
_“Papa?” The eight-year-old tugged on his father’s sleeve, as the old man got dressed. “Where are you going?”  
  
Diego adjusted the buttons on the shirt. “I’m going to work, boychik.” He sighed, grabbing his medical bag.  
  
“But it’s Shabbat, papa, isn’t that bad? Won’t God be mad-“  
  
“We do not address Hashem by that name, Gabriel,” the weary man sighed. He still had the appearance of a twenty-year-old, but the exhaustion and experience showed in his eyes. “And it’s an emergency call. A dom just sent word, her fertile is going into labor.”  
  
“What does that mean?”  
  
“A new child will be born tonight.”  
  
“Can I come help?” The brown eyed boy perked up. “I can help!”  
  
Diego bit his lip, looking at his son. “Let me check with your mother, sheifale.”  
  
Gabriel nodded, waiting for his father to emerge from his parents’ room. Diego eventually returned, wiping the lipstick from his cheek. “You can come, but only if you listen.”  
  
“Can I come too?” Ricky piped up. Diego sighed.  
  
“No, Ricardo, you’re too little.”  
  
“But Gabe’s little too!”  
  
“Gabriel is two years older than you, boychik, and he’s a fertile.”  
  
“Why does that have to do with it?”  
  
“Because I’m going to be helping a fertile have a baby tonight. I want your brother to know how he should be treated when he had a baby someday, okay?”  
  
“Fine,” the six-year-old grumbled, and turned over in his bed. Gabe grinned, holding his father’s hand as they walked through the streets, cool midnight air filling their lungs. When they reached the house, Diego pulled Gabe aside.  
  
“Gabriel, you heard what I told Ricardo, right?”  
  
Gabe nodded softly. “Yes, papa.”  
  
Diego sighed. “I want you to know how a fertile should be treated while in labor. I want you to remember that you deserve to be treated like the prince you are.”  
  
Gabe blushed, reaching up and playing with his silky curls, while Diego adjusted his yarmulke, and planted a kiss on his son’s forehead.  
  
Gabe wasn’t allowed in the room when the child was actually born. He was mainly tasked with running back and forth between rooms, to get everything ready. Unlike humans, doms were expected to stand by and protect their fertiles through the birthing process. He watched in awe as the young fertile sit there, in an incredible amount of pain, while her much older wife comforted her. In the seldom moments between the pain and the screaming, they looked over the moon.  
  
Although he knew the girl was loved, Gabe couldn’t help but feel terror spike his soul. He couldn’t imagine that pain. He couldn’t imagine giving birth to a child, with only a small hope that it would survive. She was young, probably only around 18, while her dom was anywhere from 30 to 230. The scene was supposed to placate him, prepare him, but it only did the opposite.  
  
Gabe was sitting outside the door when his father finally came out. “Gabriel? It’s time to go, boychik.”  
  
“Is the baby okay? Can I meet it?”  
  
Diego shook his head. “The baby needs to be around his parents for a while first. He needs to bond to his dom and fertile as his parents. Maybe you can meet it if we go in for a check-up.”  
  
“It’s a boy?”  
  
“It’s a boy and a fertile,” Diego smiled softly. “Just like you, my sheifale.”  
  
Gabe blushed, following his father out of the home and into the New York City streets. “I love you, papa.”  
  
“I love you too, Gabriel.” _  
  
Gabe had attempted to give the baby girl the allusion of her father to bond with, to take care of her. She knew him while within the womb, until he was no longer there. William thought he might be traveling for her birth, so he had covered a pillow in his cologne and left behind the blanket he had slept with for the past hundred years. William promised he charmed them to keep scent, or to imprint his love on the baby, but neither were supposed to last forever. He was supposed to come home.  
  
Gabe’s eyes lingered on the small photo resting on the vanity, he and Bill in their twenties. Recently married, trying for their first children. Children wouldn’t come until much, much later. Much too late.  
  
He sighed, standing up, grabbing the towel and wrapping them both in the fabric, rubbing her back until she fell asleep in his arms. He woke her up to put on her diaper and a onesie, but it was a weary wakening and she was soon sound asleep.  
  
He didn’t want to put her in the nursery tonight. He knew they made safer things nowadays for baby protection, but all he wanted was his little girl in a little basket in bed with him. He tucked Williams blanket around the padding already in the wicker basket, and gently laid her in there. She whimpered a little without his heartbeat, but soon snuggled against her father’s blanket, and Gabe could hear her little snores within minutes. He watched her for a few minutes, feeling pride in her existence, and the overwhelming sense of grief that came from the feeling that he shouldn’t be here alone. He needed someone. He needed William.

* * *

  
  
“So… what do you want now?” Pete rolled his eyes. He was done being spiteful, sick and tired of watching Gabriel pace back and forth in front of his cage. He had been there for a day, and it seemed the vampire had no hobbies. “Are you enjoying watching my ‘descent into madness’?”  
  
Gabe laughed a cruel, bitter laugh. “When did you get all poetic, Wentz? I’m supposed to be the old fashioned one?” He chuckled, checking his fingernails. “I’ve got a favor to ask of you. My father is coming into town tomorrow and I’d rather not have this dungeon in such a wretched state. If I let you out of your restraints, would you mind wiping your shit up off the floor?”  
  
Pete spat at the ground. “In your dreams, bitch.” The air around his skin grew colder, as a tightening sensation crawled across his flesh. His body seized, chains rattling at his wrists.  
  
“I’m sorry, doll, _what_ did you just call me?” The fertile spat. “I’m not anyone’s bitch,” the daggers in Gabe’s glare sent a chill down Pete’s already frozen spine, “anyway, not since you killed my fertile.” Gabe snapped his fingers and the temperature dropped to normal as Pete fell out of his shackles. “I’ll have a Dandy in here to keep watch. Get to cleaning.”   
  
Pete panted, wiping off his hands and getting to his feet. “You know, you’re a sorry mockery of a Dom. Not with all those fertile powers. It’s funny to think I ever believed Williams floating teacups were the worst a fertile could do.”  
  
Gabriel bared his teeth at the mention of William but calmed himself down. “You’ve got some balls, for a hunter. I’m surprised you didn’t take that shot you had.”  
  
“What shot?”  
  
“The one any true hunter would have taken. The one that killed William’s child.”  
  
“I’m not a fucking monster!” Pete was somewhat aghast. “That’s an infant, I’m not killing a baby.”  
  
Gabe scoffed. “Puts you above some hunters I know.” He rapped on the dungeon door. “Brendon? Would you mind watching the filth while I go prepare upstairs?”  
  
Brendon came into the dark rooms as Gabe swiftly exited, letting the door clang behind him. “Hey Pete.”  
  
“Don’t ‘hey Pete’ me!” Pete snapped. “You fucking betrayed me!”  
  
Brendon sighed, sitting down on a stool. “Gabe’s kind of serious about the cleaning. Might want to get on that.” He unlocked the cell and set down a bucket of soapy water that he must have brought in with him. “You know, Gabe’s not a bad guy.”  
  
“He fucking kills people.”  
  
“And you don’t?”  
  
“I kill _vampires._ Horrible, bloodthirsty vampires.”  
  
“You’re a vampire.”  
  
“Which is how I know how horrible they can be!”  
  
Brendon sighed. “Do you know how stupid that sounds?”  
  
Pete sighed, leaning back against the wall. He was too drained to fight back, even with the open cell door as a clear line of escape. Gabe had drained him, either through magic, or sadism. He whimpered as Brendon tossed him a rag, before relocking the door, careful not to touch the bars. “Listen. It sounds bad. But I promise, it’s different.”  
  
“Uh-huh. Totally.” Brendon flicked the switch of the electric lantern he brought in, illuminating the room with a hazy yellow glow. “You did kill his husband though.”  
  
“His husband killed me!”  
  
“William did no such thing.” Brendon scoffed. “You’re ridiculous.”  
  
“Oh, come on. Like you’d know anything I’ve been through, the horrors William put me through.” Pete shook his head. He grabbed the bucket and the rag and began to wipe the grime from his clothes.  
  
“Let me guess. Young man. Early twenties, maybe late teens. Homosexual, bisexual, something of the sorts. You’re suicidal but you don’t want your mom to find the body.” Pete looked up at that. The lantern flickered its electric flame in Brendon’s dark eyes. “You want a way out without having to die. That’s when William found you.”  
  
“I…what?”  
  
“He promised you a life better than the one you were living. A way to say goodbye without having to lose your life. A new life, of freedom and forever.” Brendon’s smile illuminated the eerie cell. “I know, Pete.”  
  
“You… how?”  
  
“He turned me too.”  
  
“Wait… you’re turned?”  
  
“Since 1932.” Brendon’s smile grew wider. “I was nineteen. My boyfriend was twenty. We were in love. But it was the Depression and there wasn’t much time for boyish freedom. We both worked on our parents’ farms, long days in the desert. It wasn’t swell, but we got along alright. Well, until Ryan’s dad caught us. Ryan’s face was beat a color I didn’t know a face could be and he didn’t see lick of me until we both snuck out. He brought the moonshine, I brought the pistol. Lovers suicide,” he looked to the door longingly. His voice had grown coarse and rough while his words stung a little too close to home for the much younger man. “That’s when William came along. This kid… he pulled us into his coach and introduced us to his husband… our jaws dropped to the floor.” He chuckled. “He made us an offer neither of us could refuse. William and Gabe were the family we never had.”  
  
“So what? You became their slave?”  
  
“Gabe’s my _friend_ ,” Brendon’s teeth bared, fangs gleaming in the yellow light. “We’re a family here. Much less than I could say about your little hunter pack.” He sneered, darting the light in Pete’s eyes and pulling out an MP3 player. “I’m done with you. Get back to cleaning.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Gabe dusted the windowsill, looking out at the expanse of the ballroom. It had been years since it had been used for a ball, and the sets of footprints he and William would leave in the dust had slowly shifted to the trudges of his own.  
  
Carden had offered to help Alex with some of the cooking that evening, if Gabe did most of the cleaning. Gabe didn’t mind it- the dust sometimes drove him insane, but the emptiness of the room mirrored the pang in his heart.  
  
His father would be arriving any moment with his wife, ready to celebrate the birth of a new child. To give this new child a name.  
  
_William smiled softly at his groom. The 25-year-old fertile beamed back, grasping for his hand. His deep brown eyes flickered in the golden light of the room, dark features accentuated by the white suit he wore.  
  
Gabe looked beautiful, practically glowing in the gilded hall. He wore a suit, rather than a dress, having insisted on retaining just a little bit of his masculinity. The light clothing reflected the candlelight, wax dripping from the chandelier. The palace had electricity, but no one had bothered to wire the 200-year-old ballroom, in fear of damaging the gilded molding and artistry.  
  
Williams suit was dark blue, golden trim matching his husbands. He adjusted his yarmulke under his dark brown hair, chestnut eyes gleaming as the band began to play. “May I have this dance, Mr. Beckett?”  
  
Gabe couldn’t help but flush, as he kissed William’s ungloved hand. “You may, Mr. Beckett.”  
  
William wasted no time setting his hands on Gabe’s hips, allowing for a cunning allusion of leading the dance. Gabe was the dancer here, not him, and William felt as if he were simply gliding across the ballroom floor in his groom’s arms.  
  
“You’re a fantastic dancer, Gabriel. Has anyone ever told you so?”  
  
Gabe laughed, kissing his now-husband on the lips. “I can’t say the same for you, Bilvy.”  
  
“Well, you didn’t marry me for my dance skills, now did you?”  
  
“I suppose not,” he grinned. “I’m just so happy we finally committed to this. I love you.”  
  
“I love you too, my darling,” He cooed, allowing Gabe to twirl. He did so with a blush. “You make me feel beautiful.”  
  
“I could say the same for you, doll.”  
  
Gabe smiled, leaning in for another kiss. William squeezed his hand. “I’ve waited 8 long years for this moment. To call you mine. For as long as we may last.”  
  
“Really? You’ve been waiting since you were 12? I was nearly 18, Bill, that’s almost wrong.”  
  
Will laughed. “Love at first sight, my darling. You never fail to amaze me.”  
_  
Gabe sighed, casting his gaze to the electric chandelier dangling above them. They had wired the room in the 90s, careful not to damage anything, and it was nice to not have to clean the wax from the crystal. But the room always looked better by candlelight, better than Gabe always remembered. The baby monitor crackled at his hip, as Ryan knocked on the door. “Gabe, your father is here. Would you like me to let him in?”  
  
Gabe smiled softly. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, thanks. I have to grab baby and get her ready. Can you tell him that he and Ilana are allowed up to the guest room?”  
  
“Of course, Gabe.” Ryan smiled.  
  
“Perfect,” he dashed upstairs and scooped the crying child into his arms. She instinctively curled around him, blinking up at him with wide brown eyes. His heart melted as he stroked back her dark brown curls. “Hello, zeeskeit,” he smiled softly. “You ready to meet your Bubbe and your Zeyde?”  
  
The little girl squealed, kicking her tiny legs. Her mother beamed, carrying her over to the dresser. He changed her diaper and dressed her in a little white gown, clean and soft against her skin. He kissed her forehead softly, tangling his finger in her curl. Gabe slowly reached to the bottom drawer and pulled out a soft woolen blanket, reeking of mothballs and the ages. “My mamme made this for me 109 years ago, beibe. So, so long ago. I won’t make you wear it,” he chuckled softly. “But it’s here if you want it.”  
  
A knock on the door interrupted the quiet moment. “Come in!” Gabe turned to face the tired eyes of his father.  
  
Diego Saporta was a tall man, with a young face and weary soul. His father had fled to Mexico to escape the Spanish Inquisition, and his mother fled what was Yugoslavia some time earlier. The old doctor had seen things Gabe could never imagine, things he prayed he wouldn’t have to. The man would tell his sons stories from the Civil War, trips from New York, to Philly, to Gettysburg, where there were too few doctors, always too late. Gabe’s respect for his father was unmatched, and he welcomed the old man with a hug. “Hello dad.”  
  
“Gabriel. It’s been too long. How are you?”  
  
Gabe sighed, squeezing him tightly as he could. “It’s the hardest year I think I’ve ever been through. I… I know I can make it through. I just have to keep telling myself that.”  
  
“You look horrible, Gabriel. You go take care of yourself. I’ll watch my granddaughter. Where is she?”  
  
Gabe’s face softened. “She’s here. She’s beautiful. Look at her, dad.” He gently tilted the bundle of blankets in his arms.  
  
Diego beamed at the tiny face in the little white dress. “She’s beautiful, Gabriel. Beautiful.”  
  
Gabe nodded, choking back tears. “I know. She…”  
  
Diego reaches up and placed his hand on his son’s cheek. “She looks just like him, sheifale. I know. It’s beautiful.”  
  
Gabe nodded, running a thumb over her tiny curls. “I think she has William’s eyes.”  
  
“I can see it.” He smiled weakly. “Ilana’s in the guest room getting ready. I can hold her while you get dressed.”  
  
“Dad, it’s…it’s not a big deal, it’s just you guys and the Dandies- “  
  
“You’re naming your daughter, Gabriel. It’s a big deal. Go put on a clean shirt.”  
  
Gabe couldn’t argue with his father and grabbed a large white and grey sweater from the dresser, something left over from the 50s, homey and paternal. He knew it would be different if William were here, if William weren’t dead. They would have been ready hours ago. Gabe would probably be wearing something nicer, maybe even a dress. William always liked how he looked in dresses, how they hung from his boxy frame and painfully rounded hips.  
  
The room was already silent as they entered. The twenty or so Dandies we’re sitting around the room, lounging on chaises, picking from the finger sandwiches and cookies Alex and Mike made earlier that morning, along with a soup and a potato dish for dinner after. Gabe held back his tears as his stepmother let go of his hand, fading back into the crowd as he stepped forward into the center of the ballroom’s expanse.  
  
He grasped his child gently as his hands began to shake. He looked down at her small, gentle face, before looking back out at his family around him. “I’d like you all to meet Genevieve Adrienne Beckett.”   
  


* * *

Gabe sighed, standing over the sink in the kitchen. His father was behind him with a towel, drying off and putting away the expensive silverware and dishes. They rarely used the nice china now a days, but the occasion seemed appropriate. A baby girl only receives her name once.

“We don’t have to go, Gabriel,” His father placed the serving tray back in the padded bag, taking a fork in turn from his son. “We don’t mind the guest bedroom, we can pull our own weight. We know it’s hard on you, Ilana and I can watch the baby while you get everything important done.”

The taller vampire looked at his distorted reflection in the wet spoon in his hand. “Papa, you have a job, so does Lana – “

“Gabriel, I only work as a secretary at the local Hebrew school, my children are grown, I can care for your baby.” His stepmother chimed in, only for Gabe to shake his head.

“Ilana, I’m an adult. I can handle it.”

“But when you can’t, you’ll call me, right?” Diego placed his hand on his son’s shoulder. Gabe turned to look at him, softening his expression at the tears in the older man’s eyes. “Gabriel. You just lost your partner of nearly a century. You have a newborn child, and an empire to run. It will become too much. All that I ask is that you get help when the time comes, okay?”

Gabe nodded slowly, his own eyes watering. “I know myself, Dad.”

“Not enough to know when you need help. I love you, my son. You’re my everything, you know. You are my firstborn after all. I love you.”

“I love you too, dad,” he set down the spoon, taking the initiative to hold the older vampire closer. “When I need you, I’ll let you know.”

* * *

  
The drip in the corner rang in Pete’s ears as the sound echoed though the cavernous space. The dungeon was cold, a sole ray of venomous sunlight seeping through a window being the only source of light. Pete’s eyes struggled to adjust to the harsh environment, and though the cycle of day and night may be comforting to some, it was only a dreary reminder to him of how the days dragged on.  
  
He had been alone for nearly two days now, and the isolation was seeping into his bones. Even when he did sleep, it was only fitful memories of his family, his friend, his fellow hunters. Imprisonment was its own form of torture for Pete, as the drip of water echoed yet again. He must be nearby to a kind of boiler room of sorts, from the sheer volume of rushing in the pipes above and below him. He knew he needed a way out. If only he knew how.  
  
The sunlight was no longer streaming in, but the world was still bright from behind the pane of glass. The window was a false promise; no larger than a common envelope, it seemed its sole purpose was to spite him, showing an outside world so close, and yet so far. He looked to the bars of the cell, searching for some form of comfort in the world of the dungeon when inspiration struck.  
  
The door looked old, much older than any new lock system. He stood on shaky legs, walking towards the iron bars, reaching to grab on and steady himself, only to scream out in pain, crumpling to the floor beneath him. “What the hell?” He murmured to himself, looking up at the bars from the ground, sunlight catching the gleam of the silver gild on the door. “Fuckin Beckett,” He groaned, looking away from the door and back at the cell. He grabbed the rag and the bucket Brendon had given him to clean up and got to work.  
  
He ripped the rag in two, wrapping one around each of his hands. He looked tested his luck, grabbing on to the scorching bars with his makeshift oven mitts. He got lucky- nothing happened. Pete grinned, turning back to the bucket. He carefully removed the metal handle and began to bend the wire to best suit his needs. Bracing himself, he slid his arm through the bar of the door and jammed the wire into the keyhole. He held his breath as he slid the wire around, slowly but surely pressing his clothed shoulder against the door.  
  
With a deafening creak, it swung open, leaving Pete dumbfounded in a cold dungeon.  
  
He looked around the room, fumbling around cobblestone floor, nearly tripping twice. Not that it mattered, anyway. Gabriel was stronger than any vampire he had ever seen and seemed more than overprotective of the child in his care. Pete was sure the fertile was already watching his every move, plotting the appropriate moment to strike; that was also implying Pete hadn’t already awoken the entire castle with his shriek of pain. The vampire had to rely on speed, not stealth to get him out of this one, but a stumble in the dungeon would slow him down considerably. He could see another light outside the door, this one fluorescent and artificial. His heart raced, anxiety kicking in. Someone was out there. They must have heard his screams, or worse, Gabriel was planning on killing him and this was all an elaborate trap. The door did swing open rather easily, for a man who had never picked a lock before in his life, and the fact that he had been free for a minute without sounding an alarm was making him suspicious.  
  
He held his breath, slipping his hand in his pocket and rummaging around for what he needed most, he didn’t think he’d leave without it, not unless Gabe took it… Gabe took his pills, what was he going to do- Pete let out a deep breath, the small metal tin in his hand already soothing his anxiety. He dry swallowed his Xanax, letting the medicine soothe his system. He leaned against the wall for a moment, feeling a sense of calm wash over him and envelop him entirely. He was going to be okay; he knew it. He couldn’t help but smile as he pushed open the door to freedom.  
  
Freedom greeted him in the form of a man in a maroon sweater eating a hoagie at a table in a kitchen surrounded by a hall of doors.  
  
It was almost like the hotel or a college dorm, with long halls of door after door surrounding a common space. However, something about it was more than just unsettling to Pete. The plain drywall made it feel like a movie set, rather than a place of comfort, and the place was in dire need of a renovation. The 80s patterned carpet was easy on his sore feet, but hard on the eyes, and the rest of the living space was the same. Couches and loveseats from the 60s surrounded a TV from at least the 90s. The wall that wasn’t drywall was plastered in wood paneling, and the lemon-yellow linoleum kitchen was reflected in its aluminum accents. Pete felt like he was in the home of a serial killer- of course, before remembering that he was not only in the house of a mass murderer, he was looking his accomplice right in the eyes.  
  
The man’s icy blue eyes were locked on Pete as he casually took another bite of his sandwich. His greasy black hair dangled in front of his face as he chewed, and continued eating, eyes not leaving Pete’s once. Pete backed up a little, stumbling against the wall. The man finished chewing, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and finally blinked. “Hey. You want some of this?”  
  
Pete went pale. “Who? What? Me?”  
  
The guy nodded. “Provolone. Swiss. Roast Beef. Peppers, onions, tomato, lettuce. A little mayo, a little mustard. And pickles. Want some?”  
  
“Who are you? What do you…? I’m like…”  
  
“The name’s Mike.” The guy spoke slow, in a voice strong and deep. His eyes were still locked on Pete as he took another meticulous bite of his sandwich, chewed it thoroughly, and swallowed. “But most people call me Carden.”  
  
“What are you doing? It’s like, 3 P.M. dude. Shouldn’t you be asleep?”  
  
“Nah. I’m good with my sub. Want a bite?”  
  
Pete shook his head, and the guy shrugged, taking another bite.  
  
“Suit yourself. C’mon. Sit down. I didn’t let you out of your cage for nothing.”  
  
“You let me out?”  
  
Mike laughed. It was one sharp bark of a laugh, with little sense of humor. “You thought you broke out? That’s cute. I’m bored and I knew I could kick your ass if I needed to. So I unlocked it.”  
  
“But what about Gabe?” Pete glanced nervously around. This felt like a horrible nightmare, a cosmic dream gone horribly awry.  
  
“Gabe’s my best friend dude. I mean, I was really close with him and Bill, like not as close as Brendon or Ryan, those guys were like their brothers. But Gabe’s my best friend, dude. He wouldn’t give a shit, as long as I put you back when I was done playing with you.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I’m serious dude. That’s kind of how he is. He’s not a dom, he’s not going to fuck your shit up. He just wants you to sit in the corner and think about what you did. And let the Dandies torture you a while too.” Mike shrugged, getting up and returning his sandwich to the fridge. “I remember you. William talked about you a lot. He said you would be a great vampire you know. Didn’t even say that stuff about me.”  
  
“About you?” Pete was in shock. His meds had placated his nerves to an almost numb level, to the point where he was becoming anxious about his lack of anxiety. He should have run long, long ago. “Why did he turn you?”  
  
“I was a coke dealer. Miami Beach. It seemed like the sweet life, but I was all cracked up. I was losing my fucking mind. I did everything. Any drug under the sun, I did it, I sold it, and I hated it. Got the HIV diagnoses that afternoon before Bilvy found me fucked up in one of those BDSM clubs that night. Gabe was there too. He looks good in leather; he’s got the legs for it. Anyway, they took me home and offered me this. Sold all kinds of shit in my ten years, and this was the best damn deal I got.” Mike’s voice grew hard, and warped, spoken with an unbridled emotion Pete wished he understood. “I’ve been clean since ’87 when they pulled me off the streets. Twenty years, this October.”  
  
Pete nodded softly. “I’m sorry.”  
  
“What the hell you saying sorry for? I’m the idiot that’s crying over here.” Mike wiped his eyes with the sleeve that he didn’t use to clean up after his sandwich. “Midnight snack is over. I’m over you, Wentz. You can go back to your cage now,” he shrugged, like a kid bored with a pet hamster.”  
  
“I… I had no idea what any of you guys went through. It’s… you guys… why follow Beckett?”  
  
“Bilvy was a good man. He loved his family. He loved people. He loved saving people who couldn’t save themselves, and he loved helping people see who they really could be. He would have done anything for any of us. He did. He died protecting us and his family.” Carden sighed. “Well… that’s your story more than mine. Now come on. Scram before I beat your ass or I tell Gabe to kick your ass.”  
  
“I don’t want to go back in there,” Pete blurted. Stupid meds, messing with his filter. He shouldn’t have said anything. He should’ve killed Mike and gotten out of there.  
  
“I’ll talk to Gabe about it tomorrow. Okay Wentz?”  
  
Pete’s face went white. “Yeah. Uh. Yeah.”  
  
Mike smiled, revealing his pearly white fangs. “Fantastic.”  
  
Pete gulped, retreating to the dungeon. There was something less comforting about the window above the basement now. He didn’t know why it resonated with him, as he locked himself in a septic tank of a room, that maybe he was the one who should have died that night in Chicago.

* * *

  
  
Ryan took a deep breath as he opened the heavy wooden door to the castle with a deafening creak. William teleported and Gabe never left without William, so the doors had years of disuse. The swinging oak monstrosity opened up to the sight of a quavering delivery man, holding out a letter and a small box. “D…Delivery for… for Mr. Edward Grauer?” He offered a clipboard out for Ryan to sign.  
  
“Mr. Grauer is not home at the moment. I am his butler. Please. Allow me.” Ryan bared a fang-less smile, as the delivery man handed over the packages.  
  
“Is it possible for you… you can sign for him… right?” His highlands accent was sharp, but his words quavered with uncertainty. The castle was far north of Edinburgh, but east of Loch Ness, avoiding the tourist crowds. The cloudy weather allowed the occasional errand to be possible for most vampires, and the mountainous terrain prevented any stragglers, besides the occasional hiker or delivery man. Somehow, William had a contact with the blood bank, and once a month a delivery of nearly expired blood was dropped at their doorstep, and Gabe got groceries delivered ever so often. This wasn’t one of those deliveries.  
  
Ryan nodded, signing off with a quick flick of the pen the man offered. “Enjoy the rest of your route, sir,” he smiled again, but the man was basically sprinting back to his truck. “Silly, silly human,” he chuckled, kicking the door shut. He made his way up the winding staircase to the master bedroom, knocking on the door. “Gabe, you have mail.”  
  
He could hear a little shuffle inside before a voice inside yelled “Leave them on the desk in the study.” Ryan huffed, turning around back down the stairs.  
  
The study was dusty from months of sitting unused, with one curtain left open. Ryan shook his head, the sun had already done enough damage to the antique rug and chaise. He closed the drape tightly and turned on the electrical. With a buzz and a snap, the lights flickered on, illuminating the glorious room. The only one who had been in there in months was Gabe. It was where he made his speech to the thousands of Dandies spread across New York and Chicago, the vampires of the countless rival gangs that either allied themselves with the Dandies or resented them.  
  
William had a tendency for notoriety. He inherited most of the empire from his father, but he showed no fear in proving he was the rightful leader of the massive regime, even under his fertile masquerade. He had his quirks, which he flaunted to the extremes, especially when it came to appointing his counsels. He had hand selected, alongside his husband, a community of dedicated, vengeful, and passionate confidants, Ryan himself included.  
  
He set the package on the desk, finally feeling caught up, when Gabe strolled in behind him. His hair was damp, and the baby was snuggled in a makeshift blanket sling against his chest. “Thanks Ryan.”  
  
“You couldn’t have just told me to leave it outside your door?”  
  
Gabe rolled his eyes. “My sincerest apologies. However, I’m a little busy with the baby, and I haven’t really had the time to think anything through. It’s been a lot.”  
  
“Sorry, Gabe. Or should I say, um… Eduard Grauer? Edward Grauer?”  
  
Gabe perked up, grabbing at the package. “Shit, Ross, that’s likely my brother and Bill’s sister… Ryan, Yeah, Albert Grauer, that’s him!” Gabe looked elated, hand resting on his daughters back as he tore open the letter.  
  
“I thought his name was Ricardo-“  
  
“It’s a code name, dumbbell. You think I can exactly have mail that says ‘Gabriel Beckett’ on it? Everyone in the world knows our name. I can’t let anything be traced to him, not after all of his decades in hiding. It’s my middle name and our grandfathers name with our mother’s maiden name.” Gabe scoffed, reading the letter, grin appearing on his face.  
  
“What does it say, Eddie?”  
  
“Classified, Ross,” Gabe shook his head. “He just says he hopes my birth went well and that he hopes to visit within the next few years after some of the tensions die down. He wants pictures of her too, and he was hoping ‘Ricarda’ was in contentions.” The vampire smiled, setting the letter back in the envelope. “He also spoke a little of that electronic mail service that Adam uses sometimes. He gave me his address, I could probably contact him that way.”  
  
Ryan nodded. “Is the box from him too?”  
  
Gabe shrugged. “He didn’t mention it in the letter.”  
  
He grabbed the letter opener from the cup holder, slicing the cellophane tape. Inside was another letter on top of a small, pink blanket. Gabe set the letter aside, taking out the blanket to reveal a small cloth bunny. He grinned, looking down at his baby girl in the blanket. “Looks like someone sent you a little present, zeeskeit,” he cooed, placing the stuffed rabbit in her little sling, beaming as the baby wrapped her tiny fingers around it. He gently pried open the letters wax seal, beaming at the handwriting he was all too familiar with. “Your Aunt Courtney and Auntie Aly say hello, princess.” He gently removed the rabbit’s ear from her mouth, kissing her nose. “They miss your daddy too. We all miss your daddy.”  
  
Ryan nodded, blinking back tears of his own as Gabe rubbed his thumb over the wax seal on the envelope. “I’ll go make you some tea, Gabe.”  
  
“Please do. Bring a cup for yourself, too. If you’d like. I wouldn’t mind the company.”  
  
“Of course, boss. Of course.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Gabe gently lay down the baby in the crib, setting the monitor in his pocket. The baby monitor really was a lifesaver, one Adam had found online. It was small and only turned on when she made some sort of noise, unlike the noisy ones back in the fifties that transmitted constant static. He kissed his baby girl’s forehead one last time before heading down to the basement. Adam was busy downloading some new vampire movie, and while Gabe wasn’t that interested, it would be nice to spend some time with his friends and get some time away from the constant stress of leading an international organized crime empire, as well as being a mother to a two week old.  
  
The rest of the Dandies were curled up in the sofas, besides Andrew, who was sitting in a lawn chair. “Getting comfy, Butcher?”  
  
He shrugged. “Like to stay on my toes, keep it quick.” Gabe smiled, perching himself on the arm of the sofa. There was an empty space next to him, one that they all noticed but wouldn’t acknowledge. That was William’s seat, where Gabe always found himself curled into his arms.  
  
Alex looked up at him and patted the seat next to him on the other sofa. “C’mon, Gabanti. Take a seat.” Gabe sighed sitting down next to him as the film started. “I’ve got some hot chocolate on the counter if you’re thirsty. I heated up some blood too, if you’re that kind of thirsty.”  
  
“I’m the third kind. Anything with juice in it?”  
  
Suarez sighed. “There’s some Chardonnay in the fridge. Sure you should be drinking that though? With the babe and all?”  
  
“Probably not. As if she isn’t already aware of how much her life has been fucked,” he shook his head softly. “I’ll stick with the chocolate.”  
  
Alex nodded somberly, watching as he got up to grab a mug. “It’s probably good for you. You gotta stop drinking all that tea and eating a piece of toast. You’re wasting away, Gabriel.”  
  
“If you keep up with that talk, I’m going to play with Wentz,” he scoffed, looking over at the dungeon.  
  
Mike shrugged. “He said last week that he wanted to talk to you.”  
  
“About what?”  
  
“About letting him out,” he explained nonchalantly, taking a sip of his cocoa.  
  
“What did you tell him?”  
  
“That I’d tell you.”  
  
Gabe chuckled. “So you let it sit a week? Damn. Sadistic or forgetful?”  
  
“I’d never tell you.”  
  
Gabe walked over to the cabinet, grabbing a Tupperware and a board. “Guess I’ll see if he’s up to some conversation.”  
  
“One Night in Bangkok style?” Carden smirked, while Adam groaned.  
  
“How the hell do you even remember that shitty musical when you were coked up for most of that decade?”  
  
“Same way you remember it even though you were two. It’s catchy.”  
  
Gabe rolled his eyes. “Check on me if I’m not out by sunrise, alright?” And with that, he turned the baby monitor up to 10, and entered the dungeon.  
  


* * *

  
  
Pete smelled the scent of chocolate before he even heard the clicking of heels on the cobblestone floor. He hadn’t dared to touch that bottle of blood Gabe had given him on his first day, but the smell grew more appealing every day. He was starving, and the scent of chocolate on the vampire’s breath made it all the more unbearable.  
  
Gabe sighed, staring at the vampire huddled inside the cage, nearly frothing at the mouth. “Sit up, Wentz. You and I are going to have a chat.”  
  
Pete groaned. “Why?”  
  
“Because I said so, that’s why,” Gabe pulled up a chair and a tray table to the cell bars. “What color?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“We’re playing chess. What do you want, black or white?”  
  
Pete bit his lip. “I’ve never played chess.”  
  
“Then I’ll teach you. Black or white?”  
  
“Black,” he finally decided.  
  
Gabe nodded, setting up the board with the ease of a professional. “White goes first. Pawns move one square forward at a time. Knights move in an “L”. Rooks go in straight lines, Bishops go diagonal and Queens go any direction. Kings can go any way but only one move at a time. Alright?”  
  
Pete blinked. “Can you-“  
  
“I’ll remind you as we go. I go first.” Gabe set a pawn two in. “Now you. Pawns can move two but only on their first turn and only forward. But they can only capture diagonal.”  
  
Pete moves one piece forward, only for Gabe to capture it immediately. The older man had an impossible smirk on his face that it took everything to keep Pete from smacking off. He sighed, making his next move. He felt like for a beginner, he was able to at least hold his own, especially when Gabe got confused for a few seconds every few turns. “Are you… okay?”  
  
“Yeah, just… William always played white. I’m not used to it.”  
  
“Oh… oh, sorry.” Pete didn’t really know what to say. What was there to say, besides ‘sorry I killed your murderer husband’? He looked up at Gabe, who’s smirk had shifted to a look of immense despair. “Hey, I’m sorry-“  
  
“It’s fine, I shouldn’t have brought this game in,” he sighed, moving his queen next to Pete’s second to last piece. His king. Half of Gabe’s pieces were still on the board. “Checkmate.”  
  
“Oh. Congrats?”  
  
Gabe nodded. “Good game. Especially for a beginner.”  
  
Pete stood up, rubbing at his knees from how he bent down to reach the board. “Bring me a chair next time, okay?”  
  
The fertile laughed. “Maybe I’ll bring the nice set down next time. Not this cheap plastic one.”  
  
“I’d prefer a chair.”  
  
“Don’t get too cocky with me-“ Gabe was cut off by the crackle of the baby monitor as his demeanor plummeted. The shrill shriek of an infant echoed around the dungeon walls and Pete could feel the emotional weight of the room drop on his shoulders as Gabe looked to the door. The chess board clattered to the floor, pieces scattering from the half closed Tupperware as the vampire disappeared, and Pete was stuck empty and alone, once again.

* * *

  
  
Three weeks. It had been three whole weeks since Joe Trohman was the last human being to see Pete Wentz alive. Brendon had promised them it was an easy job, one shot to the head of a sleeping vampire. It was supposed to be easy. It was supposed to go as planned.  
  
Joe got out of bed, frizzy hair getting in his way as he picked at his face in the mirror. It was getting to be a few days without a shave, so he grabbed the shaving cream and his razor. Every day was growing to feel the same, a dull sense of loss pounding in his chest. He took a lukewarm shower, dried himself off, and put on a clean pair of sweatpants. He managed to tease his curls into a ponytail, before meandering his way into the kitchen. Patrick was already standing by the coffee maker, buried deep in the morning’s newspaper. “Hey ‘Trick. Any news?”  
  
The blond shook his head. “Nothing. The Dandies have been silent too. Nothing from them since the week of William’s death.”  
  
Joe sighed, pouring himself a mug of coffee, taking a sip of it black, before reaching for the cream. “I feel like they would announce if they had captured the man responsible for Beckett’s murder. Maybe Pete killed the dom before he was captured and they’re scrambling?”  
  
“Maybe. But it doesn’t sound like it. And it’s not like Gabe Beckett is really our main concern anyway. William was always the mastermind behind it all, even though he was the bitch. They’re still weak. Now’s still our best time to strike.”  
  
“Not until we know what happened to Pete,” He shook his head, setting his mug down on the counter.  
  
It was Patrick’s turn to sigh. “We don’t even know if he’s alive.”  
  
“Then any plans we have can wait,” Joe’s voice was stern. “I… I’m going to see if I can parse any new info from the intercepted video- “  
  
“Joe, you’ve watched it at least five times already.” Patrick reached for Joe’s arm in a comforting motion, only for him to pull away.  
  
“I need to figure it out. There’s something there. I know it.” Joe shook his head. “Just… let me do it.”  
  
Patrick bit his lip as Joe trailed back to his room, letting the latch click behind him. Once inside, he opened his laptop, pulling up the MOV file of Gabe’s address. He had seen it enough times to quote it. It wasn’t content he was going for, more the slips in the content. The man was tall, wearing a black turtleneck and a boxy blazer with a houndstooth black and grey tweed. His dark eyes were focused, and his thick curls were slicked back. His skin wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t the pasty, washed out white of a turned vampire. His face was vibrant and full of life compared to the dullness Joe had initially suspected, but the sadness was there, dark circles underlining his eyes, and eyelashes damp with carefully managed tears.  
  
Joe tried to focus on the video, but he always felt himself drawn to the Star of David the man wore around his neck. It felt delicate, and out of place, but it was worn proudly, and it plucked at Joe’s heartstrings more than he would have liked to admit. If what Pete had told him was correct, this man grew up in lower east side Manhattan in the 1890s, lived through the Holocaust and the Lavender scare, and sat here today proclaiming his husband’s death to the world.  
  
Joe knew that Dandies fed on this emotional connection- that’s how they got Pete. But the small part of him that didn’t hate Gabriel sat quietly in awe of him. He wiped a tear he didn’t know was falling, and paused to grab himself a tissue, when he saw it.  
  
The frame had frozen in a way that Gabe was reaching into the light for a handkerchief of his own, exposing what was almost unmistakably a corset boning. Joe’s mind switched into overdrive, zooming in on the still to try and piece together a label or some other connection. The one thing that wouldn’t click in his mind is why on earth a dom would wear a corset, no one would care if he had put on any weight, especially not in mourning- Joe froze, taking a deep breath in.  
  
“He’s not a dom,” He said quietly to himself, gears slowly clicking in his mind. It had been six days since William died when the photo was taken, and no self-respecting Jewish man would break Shiva to shave for a press release, right? Especially not one so enriched in the culture as Gabriel. Joe bit his lip, searching something he had never considered searching for. He pulled up Google, typing quickly into the search bar ‘Gabriel Beckett- ‘, searching news sites, library archives, vampire registries. After a few hours of scrolling, he hit jackpot.  
  
“No fucking way…” he whispered, printing out the archived news article from 1951, and slamming it down on the counter in front of Patrick and Andy.  
  
“You guys are never going to believe this.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Pete ran his thumb along the plastic chess piece, having reached through the bars to grab the Tupperware. It had been long enough that the contents of his own pockets had begun to bore him, isolation slowly sinking him deeper into depression. Gabe had obviously rummaged through his pockets while he was knocked out, or at least gotten Brendon to do it, but there wasn’t anything missing other than his spare bullets. He had a small shelf next to his cot, where he set up his supplies. He had his penlight, a notebook, a small pen, a pack of peanuts from the plane that he didn’t want to eat, and his tin of pills that was running ridiculously low.  
  
By this point, he had grown accustomed to the click of Gabe’s heels on the floor, alerting him of his presence. The vampire had become much more accustomed to his presence, but this time was different. Gabe was wearing a sweater and a pair of khakis, young child in a sling across his chest. He sat down in front of Pete’s cage, eyes on his baby.  
  
Pete looked up at him, eyebrow raised. “Gabe? Is everything okay-“  
  
“William… was he going to kill you?” Gabe’s voice was hoarse, breaking at the words. Pete could tell he had been crying for a while.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“Did he try and kill you? Or your friends? Or your girlfriend? Is that… is that why you wanted him dead?” Gabe sniffled, clutching the baby even tighter to his chest.  
  
“He… he already killed me. He took my life and made me a monster.”  
  
Gabe nodded a little, looking at the window allowing moonlight to stream into the dungeon. “William had a habit of doing that in a way. Something went wrong with you. I don’t know what.”  
  
Pete furrowed his brows, slowly standing up. Even sitting, Gabriel was taller than him. “What do you mean, something went wrong? I’m a vampire, isn’t this what William wanted-“  
  
“William had a habit for taking people and killing a part of them. He killed the part of them that wanted to die,” Gabe sniffled, wiping his nose with his sweater sleeve, dead eyes focused on the back of Pete’s cage with a wistful glance. “Everyone here, everyone he helped- they were like you once were. Scared, suicidal, alone. William saved them. He thought he was saving you.”  
  
“How was this supposed to help them? Taking away what they desire most-“  
  
“You wanted to die that bad?” Gabe met his cynical gaze. “You really did? So much that you’d say you’d desire it above all else?”  
  
Pete’s face went red, suddenly thankful for the shadowy cell. “I… I don’t really know. But it felt like that.”  
  
Gabe sighed. “I know it felt like that. But you didn’t. There’s tons of ways for vampires to die. You know all of them. And yet, I’m talking to you right now.”  
  
“Well, duh, I had to get my revenge. Make sure no poor kid had to deal with getting turned by you sick fuckers ever again.” Pete seethed, spitting a little as he spoke. His fangs bared, before he slowly cowered as the same chill as before crept over him. He backed down, and so did the paralyzing chill.  
  
The vampire wiped his eyes, staring into the cell. “So what I’m hearing is, you found a purpose to stay alive.”  
  
Pete’s throat went dry. “What, no- oh. That sick-“  
  
“That’s my dead husband you’re speaking of, remember,” Gabe mused, throat still hoarse from crying. “But he did his job. You’re here. You could have died in hundreds of ways since you first set foot in here. But you haven’t. You’re still here.”  
  
Pete didn’t really know what to say. “He… he didn’t just do it so I could talk to you, right?”  
  
Gabe stood up, looking back out the window, supporting his baby in the sling. “He did it for you, Wentz. All of it. He did it for you.”  
  


* * *

  
  
The sitting room was vacant, as it usually was. The second floor of the house was fantastic for entertaining, but in a home as lonely as this one, it felt stiff and unused. He could see the ballroom through the arching door, gazing out wistfully at the balcony. Although dark outside, the illumination within filled the balcony with artificial light, a surprising warmth that was often lost in these empty halls.  
  
He didn’t know why this particular room had become his favorite when it came to nursing his child, but it had, and as long as his baby girl ate, he couldn’t complain. He sipped his own tea, rubbing his princess’s back while she curled into his chest. His shirt was unbuttoned just enough for her to have full access to his nipple, and while he couldn’t exactly say he enjoyed the sensation, it was better than the alternatives. The little girl cooed, finishing her meal as she was propped up on her mother’s shoulder to be burped.  
  
Gabe looked back out at the ballroom, humming softly as he patted her back, and closed his eyes in the hope of a tender escape.  
  
_Gabe closed his eyes softly, biting his lip as William’s feet swept them back and forth across the gilded marble floors.  
  
“Easy, doll, take a deep breath. Breathe. I’ve got you.”  
  
Gabe nodded, squeezing Williams hand softly as he reached down to cup his stomach. The baby was dropping quickly now, bearing down on his too-tight hips. William kept his fingers locked in Gabe’s as his free hand rubbed the taller man’s back.  
  
“Is he alright?”  
  
“He’s ready to come out soon.” Gabe winced, letting William rock them through the contraction.  
  
“Brendon is already drawing a warm bath and Ryan called your father. We’re ready whenever our little boy is.” Gabe whimpered softly and nodded, bead of sweat pooling on his brow.  
  
“Can we sit down for a moment?” He asked, exasperated and ready to cry. “They’re getting more frequent now.”  
  
William helped him lower himself to the floor, spreading his thighs. “I can carry you up when it’s time to deliver.”  
  
“I’d love that.”  
  
William nodded, using his shirtsleeve to wipe Gabe’s brow. He kissed his forehead, pressing his palm against the bump, rubbing their son’s back. “He’s almost here. We’re going to be parents, baby.”  
  
Gabe nodded weakly, falling into his arms as the contraction waned. The empty ballroom echoed with every grunt or whine as Gabe stayed in Williams arms. Eventually William scooped him up off the floor. “Come on. Time to have the baby.”  
  
“Wait. William.” Gabe tried standing for himself on shaky legs. Their brown eyes locked as Gabe wobbled against William for support. “May I have this dance?”  
  
One would only generously call their gentle rocking movements a dance, only a basic display of intimacy at best. But they had been waiting 31 long year for this dance, as Gabe’s eyes fluttered with the pain of each contraction and Williams arms grew tired from holding him up. It lasted less than a minute before Gabe gasped, and William almost flew them to the bathroom, where everything was ready for the baby to be born.  
  
They were ready  
_

* * *

  
  
Brendon sat back on the bed, looking up at the faded tiled ceiling. He and Ryan thought it would be cool in the 60s- the 60s. He scoffed, looking over at his husband on the couch. William had officiated the wedding shortly after turning them, back when they were still in the states.  
  
There were no stakes back them, not that there were any more now. Divorce among vampires was considered normal, casual at best. No one expects you to love the man you met centuries ago forever. That was far from their minds now, undeniably happy in their marriage, even when everything else was falling apart.  
  
“Ryan?” Brendon sighed, causing his husband to look up from his book.  
  
“Yes, babe?” Ryan was wearing the same outfit he would have worn in 1978, complete with the ugliest slouch cap Brendon had ever seen. God, he loved him.  
  
“I feel bad about betraying Pete,” he finally confessed. “I mean, I don’t want Gabe dead, and I certainly never want anything to happen to Evie-“  
  
“Is that what Gabe’s calling her? Evie?”  
  
Brendon nodded. “Yeah. She’s not much of a Jenny to you, is she?”  
  
Ryan chuckled. “Guess you’re right.”  
  
“But anyway. I feel like shit. Pete didn’t seem to want to do anything wrong. He genuinely thought William was the bad guy.”  
  
Ryan sighed. “I think some of the blame falls on William for that one, y’know?”  
  
“What are you talking about?”  
  
“William didn’t tell him shit. He never learned about the way William protected everyone we ever cared about. He didn’t learn about why William did what he did. It’s easy to make someone the bad guy when you’re only seeing one side of the story.” Ryan set his book down, standing to stretch his legs.  
  
“William was one of the most amazing guys the world had ever seen-“  
  
“Pete never saw that. Pete never got to see that. He didn’t stick around to hear why William is the way he is. He made his own choice.”  
  
“And it cost a man his life. It cost a child her father, and it put millions of vampires at risk. You can’t begin to justify that.” Brendon sighed. “I just can’t help but feel bad.”  
  
“You lied to a murderer to protect your family, Bren. It’s okay.” Ryan sighed. “At the end of the day, Pete killed William. Whether he understood it, or not. Bill’s gone.”  
  
Brendon sniffled, leaning into his husband’s arms. “I know. I miss him too.”

* * *

  
  
Gabe unwrapped his daughter’s blanket, shushing her quiet cries as he stroked her hair and undid her onesie, fresh diaper in hand. He placed a few kisses on her tummy, causing her to giggle and squeal. She was getting big, at nearly two months old, and was looking more like her father every day. She was a gorgeous baby, big brown eyes staring up at the universe with a certain cynicism akin to William, but with her mother’s tender smile. Gabe took off her old diaper, placing it in the sink for the laundry, and grabbing the wipes. Brendon tried to get him to use the disposable ones, but Gabe didn’t mind doing the laundry and no suspicion would arise from having to order clean diapers once a week.  
  
He was almost done wrangling her into the new one when a knock at the door disrupted all of his process. “Come in!”  
  
Carden slipped in, a little embarrassed as he watched the man struggle with the diaper. “Hey Gabe. You doing alright?”  
  
“Are you just here to chat, Mike? Cause no offense, this is a kind of shitty time to do so.” He grumbled, finally snapping the cloth diaper shut.  
  
“I’m not. Um, Wentz is kind of making a ruckus in the basement. He wants to talk to you.”  
  
Gabe sighed, looking up at him with tired eyes. “I’ll be down in a second.”  
  
“I can watch Evie- “  
  
“She’s coming with me, Mike. Don’t even think about it.”  
  
Carden trudged behind him as he made his way downstairs to the basement. It was eerily silent when Gabe swung the door to the dungeon open, bouncing his baby girl softly.  
  
Much to his surprise, Pete had set up a game of chess on the table in front of his cell, all ready to play. Gabe sighed, noticing the red marks on Pete’s wrists from the sliver coated doors. “What’s all this?”  
  
Pete looked up, grinning. “You want to play a game?”  
  
Gabriel groaned, resting his baby over his shoulder. “You did all this for a game? You woke up everyone else down here with your screams because you’re lonely?”  
  
“Well, the screams were from the bars. Maybe don’t coat them in silver powder next time.”  
  
The older vampire sighed, sitting down across from him. “I’m not playing with you, Wentz. I’ll talk. But I’m too tired for chess.”  
  
Pete shrugged. “Good enough.”  
  
Mike shook his head. “I’ll head out now, Saporta. See ya.”  
  
Gabe nodded, watching as Carden walked out.  
  
“Saporta?”  
  
“My maiden name. What, you thought I was a Beckett by birth? Come on.” Gabe scoffed at the look on Pete’s face.  
  
“I… when did you marry?”  
  
“1920. It was a beautiful wedding, truly. We spent the next two decades traveling before William’s father retired to have more children with his new wife, and Bilvy had to take over for him.” Gabe sighed, looking down at his baby girl, who was curled tightly into him.  
  
“You were married for 86 years?” Pete’s eyes went wide.  
  
“Would have been 87 in November. We had just celebrated before William went to Chicago one last…” Gabe paused. “The wedding was beautiful. William was 20. I had just turned 26. We were so young.”  
  
“Don’t you look the same? You stop aging at 25, right?”  
  
Gabe sighed again, looking up at him with weary eyes. “The decades take their toll, Pete. Maybe not physically, but emotionally, mentally, they wear down on you. I’ve lost a lot, more than you could even imagine.”  
  
Pete believed him. “Can I ask one thing?”  
  
Gabe leaned back in the chair, baby resting on his chest. “Depends. What is it?”  
  
He bit his lip, unsure of how to phrase it. “Why did you… why did you pretend to be the Dom? Why did you have William be the fertile?”  
  
“You really want to know?”  
  
Pete nodded, watching Gabe stand up and shift his baby to his left shoulder. “Yeah. I do.”  
  
He took a deep breath, looking Pete in the eyes. “We did it because of you.”  
  
The color drained from Pete’s already ashy face. “What?! Me? You’re literally 85 years older than me, you were pretending long before- ”  
  
“Hunters. We did it because of hunters. Everyone one in our lives that we lost, we lost to hunters. Family, friends, parents, kids. We knew we looked the part- we were already an unconventional Dom/Fertile pairing. And having a fertile led gang was near revolutionary. It allowed me to take care of the legal work and finances, which was the man’s job, and the job I was better at, while William was the head of the organization. It worked,” Gabe blinked back tears, pausing for a moment before continuing. “William wanted to know that if he died, someone would be there to take care of his family. He wanted to protect me and any babies we had. We thought this was the best way. We were right.”  
  
Pete didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry.”  
  
“It’s okay. He did what had to be done. He… he would have done anything for his baby girl. He gave up his life so that we could be safe at home. It was worth it to him.”  
  
The incredulous guilt seeped into Pete’s bones, chilling him to his core. He killed a man who was trying to protect his lover and child - no. William was a monster.  
  
William had a death count in the hundreds. William murdered people for sport, not for food. William Beckett was the most feared man on the planet, he had thousands of vampire masses willing to do his bidding, alliances with thousands of gangs, and enemies all around.  
  
He had a baby on the way and a family that just wanted him to come home.  
  
And Pete ended his reign of terror.

* * *

  
  
_The overpowering scent of maple syrup wafted through the room, tinged with the dampness of cool morning air. Gabe lifted his little boy on his hips, carrying him over to the record player. “Your Zeyde sent this over, apparently it’s very popular in those jazz clubs he and your Bubbe love.”  
  
Adrian giggled, as Gabe set the blues record down on the phonograph. He began to sway with his three-year-old on his hips, heading over to the griddle to start making another batch of pancakes. “Why are you making more, mama? There are still extras from when you and I ate.”  
  
Gabe kissed the boy’s forehead. “I’m making enough so that your Daddy and Brendon and Ryan and the other Dandies can have some. Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll let you come with me to deliver them to the basement.” He smiled, ladling the batter onto the griddle.  
  
“Don’t they have their own kitchen down there? Can’t they make their own pancakes?” The boy asked, not expressing judgement, only confusion.  
  
“They can, baby. But sometimes it’s nice to do something nice for other people,” Gabe grinned, running his hand through his sons bouncy red curls. “Look at you, you’re getting so big. Do you want to help me make the pancakes?”  
  
Adrian grinned. “If I help, we can make even more for them!” His father beamed, handing him the little ladle.  
  
“Lay it down gently, you don’t want it to spill everywhere,” The young vampire beamed, guiding his son’s hand as he plopped the first pancake on the griddle. “That’s it. Good job baby. You’re such a good helper in the kitchen. You know what?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Maybe next year I’ll let you help me make latkes with your Bubbe.”  
  
The little boy gasped and grinned. “Really?”  
  
He nodded, nuzzling his son’s head, as his husband trudged down the stairs. “How are my favorite fertiles this lovely morning?”  
  
Adrian beamed. “Daddy! Mama let me help with the pancakes. He says I can help with the Hanukkah food next year!”  
  
William smiled, kissing his cheek. “That’s wonderful, darling.” He leaned up to kiss his husband, before sitting down to sort through the mail while he drank his coffee. Gabe hummed along to the bluesy tune, rocking their son back and forth while they made their pancakes.  
  
“Mama?”  
  
Gabe smiled up at him. “Yes, baby?”  
  
“Am I ever gonna get a little brother or sister? You and Daddy both have one, and daddy has half brothers and sisters. I want one too!”  
  
Gabe chuckled, looking out at his husband, sipping his coffee in the hazy morning light of the UV protected Florida porch. His hair was getting a little long, but it curled around his ear in the perfect way to frame his face. Their baby boy sure wasn’t the cure for an insane bout of baby fever, and a husband that looked like that sure wasn’t either. He watched for a moment longer, as William squinted in the bright morning sun. “Maybe soon, Adri.”  
  
“Maybe for Hanukkah?”  
  
His mama laughed. “Sure, baby. I’ll talk to your daddy about it.” He kissed his head gently, rubbing his back. He smiled, looking over at his husband, only to feel his world shift into slow motion.  
  
William’s mug shattered as it fell to the floor, the linoleum flooded with barely drank coffee. William’s hands were shaking as his eyes skittered over the letter in his hands. Gabe set Adrian down at his seat at the counter, rushing to his side. The vampire shook, handing his anxious husband the letter. “This… This wasn’t supposed to happen, doll. This wasn’t supposed to happen...”  
  
“Bilvy, baby, please, breathe, what’s wrong? What happened?”  
  
“He let me take over and retired all those years ago for this reason. We’ve been undercover for years. Gabe, they don’t care, they killed him anyway, Gabe…”  
  
“What happened, Bill, please?”  
  
William looked up at him, face the color of the envelope in his hands, “My dad’s dead. My little siblings are dead. My mom and stepmom are dead. The hunters got to them too, Gabe. They’re gone. Fucking gone.”_  
  


* * *

  
  
“So. This is it? This proves that Gabriel is the fertile?” Patrick seemed a little skeptical, looking at the rough copy job of the news article. “It could be photoshopped, Joe. Anything could be photoshopped.”  
  
“I found it on a library archive. Why would that be photoshopped?” Joe crossed his arms, pointing to the column. “Look. It says right there. ‘William Beckett and Gabriel Saporta have announced the birth of their son, Adrian Beckett. Bris held last Sunday at Temple Beth Israel, in Brooklyn.’”  
  
“How are you even sure that’s the same William Beckett. And wouldn’t it be Gabe Beckett if that was correct?”  
  
“That’s what I’m saying, some Jewish women keep their maiden names, it’s a thing. And I doubt Beckett’s a convert, so their son would be matrilineally Jewish only if Gabriel was the mother.”  
  
“And? Maybe he just did it out of respect for his husband’s culture?” Patrick was growing irritated. “We don’t even know if that’s the same Beckett. William was the most common name for decades and Beckett is far from an uncommon surname.”  
  
“But Saporta _is._ And I’ve found reports of a Diego and an Ilana Saporta who live in New Jersey and are under Dandy protection.” Joe shook his head. “This was in 1951, Patrick. Keep that in mind.”  
  
“Over half of all vampires in the world are under Dandy protection or an affiliated gang’s protection. If they live in Jersey, there’s no way they wouldn’t be.”  
  
“Patrick, this is it, I’m telling you. Play with me here. Let’s say it was them.”  
  
“Okay. So it is them. What does that tell us? William lied to us? We already knew that.”  
  
“It tells us that William was the Dom. And Gabe was the fertile. And that they had a child together already. Which means even if Gabe died, there’s another successor to the Dandy throne. Which means that there’s a reason Pete’s body wasn’t dropped off in downtown London last week. He’s alive because he found out something they don’t want the rest of the world to know.”  
  
Patrick’s eyes went wide. “You think he knows where this Adrian guy might be hiding out?”  
  
Joe grinned. “I bet he does. And if we get him out, we can take down the Dandies for good. Imagine. A whole dynasty of killers taken down in one foul swoop.”  
  
Patrick nodded, turning to Andy, who was eerily silent. “What do you say, Hurley?”  
  
Andy smiled up at them. “I’ll call McCoy. We’ve got some planning to do.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Brendon sighed, knocking on the cobblestone wall next to the metal grate. Pete jumped, shaking out his head.  
  
“What do you want, Brendon?”  
  
Brendon sat down in front of him, crossing his legs. “I wanted to talk to you.”  
  
Pete scoffed, sitting up to face him through the bars. “About what?”  
  
“I wanted to say sorry for double crossing you. The tricks and stuff? It makes us no better than the bad guys.”  
  
“Yeah, right. You are the bad guys,” Pete couldn’t even believe that attempt at an apology. “Did Gabe send you here or something? Cause I’m tired of listening to his pity stories. I won’t feel bad for a murderer.”  
  
Brendon shook his head. “I’m here of my own accord. Gabe doesn’t even know I’m here. He’s upstairs with the baby.”  
  
“And? Doesn’t mean he couldn’t have forced this fake olive branch.”  
  
The older vampire sighed. “I’m sorry, Wentz. I really wanted to make things right- “  
  
“What are you talking about?” Pete stood up, pissed. “I’m supposed to feel bad for you? I’m supposed to feel like you’re the good guys? You kill people! You’re all murderers!”  
  
“You kill people too, Wentz. You killed someone very near and dear to all of us.” Brendon closed his eyes for a moment. “Can you imagine for a second what it was like when Gabe learned William was gone? Just imagine it. Imagine waking up the next day, knowing you had lost everything. Imagine having to tell millions of people that the love of your life was-“  
  
“I get it, okay! Geez, calm down.”  
  
“Pete, you don’t get it. You don’t,” he sighed. “This is a family here. William was like a father to all of us. You hurt all of us.”  
  
Pete tapped his foot, crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh yeah? Then how come I wasn’t treated as such?”  
  
“Is _this_ what everything was about?” The look on Brendon’s face was shock. “You were invited. You were cared for, William had every plan to make you one of us, one of his family. He had found out in a time when you needed help the most, and he was going to be there to get you through the other side, whether you chose to stay here or not. He was excited for you. He was turning a new vampire, he was trying for a baby with his wife, he was very happy to have this happen. You rejected his offer, in case you forgot. You were invited into the warmth, and you _chose_ to make your way out in the cold.” He shook his head, standing up.  
  
“Sorry that I didn’t want to join your murder cult,” Pete scoffed, scraping the sole of his shoe against a cobblestone. “You kill tons of innocent people every year.”  
  
“And hunters kill hundreds of vampires every month. We defend the vampire community as a whole. We’re here to protect those who can’t protect themselves.”  
  
“From people who are trying to kill monsters?”  
  
Brendon recoiled. “That’s what you think of us? That’s what you think of yourself? Monsters?!”  
  
Pete’s throat went dry. “I- “  
  
“You what, Pete? You do, don’t you. That baby girl in Gabe’s arms, a monster? Me, my partner, Mike and his sandwiches, Alex’s special hot chocolate, your favorite chess partner- all monsters? All better off dead than alive? We’re people, Pete. We live. We love. We have passions, and interests, and family, even if that family is found in each other. We read, we write, we create, we look for outlets to express parts of ourselves. We find beauty in the world around us, the others around us, and the places we make for ourselves. We may not be human, but we’re as human as it gets.” Brendon shook his head. “We obey our own rule. We don’t believe in violence to gain anything, only to survive and to protect. We try to get along. We’re people, just like you.”  
  
Pete’s tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth. His voice was like sandpaper. “You’re killers- “  
  
“And humans aren’t? I’m not saying we’re any better. But we’re not any worse.” Brendon sat back down with a sigh. “I don’t know whether you’re brainwashed, stupid, or you just hate yourself so damn much it hurts, but you’re a vampire, Pete. And it’s time you learned there is nothing wrong with that.”  
  


* * *

  
  
Gabe scrubbed away at the pan, baby sitting on his chest in the sling.  
  
“Gabanti. Come eat. Your eggs are going to get cold. Same with your pancakes,” Alex chastised, patting for him to join him in the breakfast nook. “At least let me put butter on them before they get too cold for it to melt.”  
  
“Fine. But just for the pancakes, not the eggs-“  
  
“That’s gross, Gabe. Unless you’re having a post pregnancy craving, I won’t put butter on your eggs,” Alex sighed. “I’ll clean the pan. You got to eat.”  
  
Gabe grumbled a little but shuffled over to the table to eat his breakfast. He was a minute or so in when Suarez reappeared to join him.  
  
“You’re lookin’ better Gabanti.”

“Geez, thanks Suareasy. But I’m a married man, thanks for asking,” Gabe muttered, fidgeting a little with his wedding ring. He hadn’t taken it off, and he didn’t plan to, unless his daughter wanted to use it as her own wedding ring someday.  
  
“I mean it. You looked rough after Bilvy died. Really bad. No one wanted to say anything, but you were skinny as fuck, and pregnant. You looked moments away from death-“  
  
“Salt in a gaping would.”  
  
“I’m sorry. But we were scared out of our wits for you, and you pulled through. You look healthy. Your daughter looks healthy and safe. You’re an amazing mom.”  
  
Gabe couldn’t help but blush a little. “Barely even a mother. She’s only two months old.”  
  
“You’re still an amazing one. Seriously. You fucking birthed that baby, and now she’s the prettiest 2 month old I’ve ever seen.”  
  
“How many babies have you seen in the last six decades of you being a vampire?”  
  
“Enough to know yours is pretty damn cute.” Alex smiled, taking a sip of his coffee. “You look better though. I’m glad you’re getting better.”  
  
Gabe sighed. “I know. I want to make it easy. I want to let him go. I just… we can’t even have a funeral, Alex. No fucking funerals, no fucking ceremonies. We had a candlelight vigil. That’s it, dude.”  
  
Suarez took his hand gently, rubbing the back with his thumb. “Do you think Pete knows where they put the body? We could ask, and maybe Butcher could retrieve it.”  
  
“Do you think they’d even let us have it?” Gabe was on the verge of tears, voice cracking with the slightest hint of optimism.  
  
“We could steal it. I mean, you have that family plot in Jersey. Your father could deal with the intricacies of it. It would be a way to get back at them and honor Bill the way he deserves.”  
  
Gabe sniffled. “You think they’d let me get a lock of hair?”  
  
Alex squeezes his hand. “If your dad is presiding over the body, then definitely. You could probably visit one last time too, bring Evie, finally grieve.”  
  
He nodded, looking down at the baby girl cradled against his chest. She was asleep, but cozy, and he kissed her head softly. “I’d really appreciate that, Suarez.”  
  
Alex nodded. “I know you would.”

* * *

  
  
_“Mama? Are you sure I have to go?”  
  
Gabe sighed, kissing Adrian’s head softly. “I’m sure baby. Your Zeyde and your Bubbe are going to keep you safe. You just get to spend some time with them and go to school in America.”  
  
“Is that why I have to go live with them? So I can go to school where you went to school?”  
  
Adrian watched as Mama bit his lip, and then nodded. “Yes, sheifale. It’s because I want you to get a good education.” The boy skipped alongside his mother as they walked up the stone pathway of the little New Jersey bungalow. The house was small, but it had plenty of room for the little boy to play in the yard or to have a playroom of his own. It was nothing compared to the castle, but it would do. Gabe sighed, before knocking on the door. “Papa? Ilana?”  
  
Gabe’s stepmother opened the door, pulling her stepson and grandson into a hug. “Gabriel, Adrian, how are you? I see you brought your stuff.” Her smile was warm, but the look in her eyes gave away the pain. “We’ve been setting up your bedroom for a few days. Come in, I bet you’ll like it. Zeyde is there right now, go say hello to him.”  
  
Adrian beamed, hugging his Bubbe, before pushing past her to go see his grandfather. Gabe sighed, smiling at his stepmother. “Hey Ilana. How are you, really?”  
  
She sighed back, hugging her stepson again. “I’m so sorry Gabriel. I can’t imagine what you and William are going through.”  
  
“William’s taking it the worst. He basically lost his entire family. He’s got Courtney and her wife, and Adrian and I.”  
  
“He has us too, you know,” She took his hand, rubbing his thumb.  
  
“He knows, it’s just- “  
  
“I know. Hard on him. I feel horrible that now we have to take your son away too.”  
  
“Don’t. It’s safer here. You and Papa… you’re not gang leaders. You’re not killers. You’re good parents. And even better grandparents. I need my baby to live. I can’t let him be murdered just because his father was William Beckett of the Dandies.” Gabe wiped a tear from his eye. “I… I think we’re going through on the plan. William looks well in a few of my dresses. I’m getting a few of his more masculine suits tailored to my body. I’d make a fine Dom, wouldn’t I?“  
  
She nodded. “I believe so.”  
  
“That’s why no one can know that our baby is our baby. They can’t think I wasn’t ever not a Dom. That my baby is…”  
  
The woman sighed, reaching up to wipe his tear. “I know baby. I know. We’re going to take care of him. We’re taking care of your baby.”  
  
Gabe sighed. “I know. I trust you.”  
_

* * *

  
  
Gabe set his baby girl down in her cradle, looking up at the photo of his husband on the wall. William’s face smiled down at him, reflecting back his own weary reflection in the glass. He sighed, heading into the bathroom to face himself in the mirror. Suarez wasn’t wrong, between the loss of his love and the pressure of running the largest allied organization in the world, he had done little to take care of himself.  
  
If he didn’t know any better, he’d think the age was starting to show on him. His eyes had sunken into his skull, his skin pale and dry. He needed some blood in him, as well as a good shave. The stubble wasn’t the biggest pain in his ass, especially with trying to hide an entire pregnancy from the world at stake, but it had grown itchy, and difficult to manage. He grabbed a straight razor and the shaving powder from under the sink, staring at the unfamiliar reflection in the mirror.  
  
He was staring into the face of a man who had lost everything, a face he was slowly coming to terms with as his own.  
  


* * *

  
  
Pete could smell the blood the moment the door opened. Gabe strutted in his usual fashion, blood filled water bottle at his lips. He sat down in front of Pete, brandishing an envelope. “Good evening Peter, how did you sleep?”  
  
Pete groaned. “Fine, asshole, thanks for asking.” He noticed the Manila colored paper in the fertile’s hands. “What’s that?”  
  
“Nothing, currently. Depends on what you can do for me.”  
  
Pete sneered. “What do you want? Another story about how your husband was a monster? How he was a fucking killer who deserves to be in the ground?”  
  
A twinkle shown in Gabe’s eyes. “Actually, yes.”  
  
Pete’s face went blank. “Oh… I mean, really?”  
  
“Well, in a way. I want to know where you and your little friends hid the body.”  
  
“Yeah, right. Like I’d ever tell you.” He kicked at the ground a little bit. Gabe crumpled up the envelope, tossing it in a puddle behind him.  
  
“Well, I guess I’ll have to pay a little visit to Chicago myself. Your hunter friend, what’s his name, Patrick? The cute chubby one, he’d be a pretty good snack, don’t you think- “  
  
“You’re not fucking better than William, are you!” Pete tried to rattle the door, not caring as the silver ate away at his flesh. “You think it’s okay to just taunt with someone’s life like that? It’s not. It’s not fucking okay. You can’t think I’ll just do what you want because otherwise you’ll murder my best friend!” Pete sniffled, wiping his eyes on his hoodie sleeve.”  
  
“Peter, I would never have done it. Not unless he was directly threatening another vampire’s life.”  
  
“He does that every day!” Pete snapped. “You don’t need to find an excuse to kill him.”  
  
“I won’t. Please. Just… I want my people to stop being killed.” Gabe sniffled. “I want justice for my husband.”  
  
Pete rolled his eyes. “Justice was served in killing your husband.”  
  
Gabe ignored it. “I just want him to be put to rest one final time. I have a family cemetery plot in New Jersey-“  
  
“You think we’d give him that? You think we’d give him a place where all of his worshippers could come and glorify his wrongdoings? It would be a monument to terror.” Pete shivered a little at the thought as he remembered the glimpse he got of William’s corpse after the first day. It was surprising he didn’t realize he was a dom back then. His usually gloved hand was mauled with a myriad of burn marks and scar wounds, his twisted right leg the source of the infamous cane walk. He wore a grim mask of death, one Pete wished he could get out of his mind. In a way, he knew it was his guilt creeping in.  
  
“Then where is his body?”  
  
“You want that? Sick fucker, you want that?”  
  
“I want my husband buried next to my family in a nice, quiet Jewish cemetery in central Jersey. Maybe my maiden name on the grave, maybe “Husband, Father, Friend” engraved in the stone. Something to remember the love of my life. Something to put him to rest and protect his soul.”  
  
Pete scoffed. “No way. People would find out.”  
  
“The same way they found out I was a fertile? You didn’t even know my maiden name until a week ago.” Gabe pulled another envelope from his pocket. “I have a deal for you. Here’s an envelope and some paper. You can write a letter home. Let your girlfriend know you’re thinking of her, let your momma know you miss her every day, apologize to the boys for missing poker night- whatever you want. Just tell me where my husband’s body is so my family can have some closure.”  
  
He reached out with a shaky hand and grabbed the envelope. Inside were several sheets of paper, a stamp, and a pen. “I can send this to whoever?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“And you won’t read it?”  
  
“We’ll make sure you don’t spill too many secrets. But I don’t want to censor you too much.”  
  
Pete bit his lip, placing the envelope on his bed. “And all I have to do is tell you what happened to William’s body?”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
Pete sighed, hoping that the offer wouldn’t be rescinded when the answer wasn’t the one Gabe wanted. “It’s gone. We threw it out in the sun. It burned, and crackled, and all of a sudden, it was gone. Reduced to ashes. Nothing. Only his fucking ring left behind.”  
  
The older vampires face went grey. “You… you burned him?”  
  
“Duh. How else were we supposed to dispose of him? We weren’t going to keep it! And where were we supposed to bury it? We needed to get it out of there. He’s a monster. He deserves to burn.” Pete shuddered at the memory of the disposal. They left his clothes on, but Pete’s curiosity got the better of him as he stripped the infamous glove off of William’s left hand. Inside was a piece of mangled, rotting flesh, warped and scarred from some attack years earlier. He slid the glove back on, watching William’s body smolder in the sun before bursting into flames. He opened his eyes to the sight of the vampire’s tears, the pain eminent in his eyes.  
  
The tall vampire stood up, gripping the bottle in his hand. “Keep the letter. Keep the fucking letter. Butcher will pick it up tomorrow and mail it when he goes into down the next morning.” The lights flickered as he looked down at Pete, shadows emphasizing his dark features. Pete was speechless, staring up at his imposing figure, heart pounding in his chest. He felt the all too familiar creep of impending doom, before the vampire vanished, unholy moan echoing around the dark chamber.  
  
And once again, he was alone.

* * *

  
  
“Gabriel? Gabe, can I come in?”  
  
Mike didn’t hear an answer. He looked to Alex and Brendon, he both stepped up to the bedroom door. “Saporta? We’re coming in,” Brendon pushed on the door, the three vampires staring at the room before them. Gabe was laying on the bed, wearing the sweater he had worn the day before. The blood bottle on the nightstand was still full, the vampire’s skin pale and ashy.  
  
Brendon sighed, picking up the child resting on Gabe’s chest. “C’mon, Genevieve, we’ve got to get you cleaned up.” Gabe let out a weak moan, shaking with a sob.  
  
Alex grabbed his hand, forcing him to sit up. “We’re getting you cleaned up too.”  
  
“Noooo…” Gabe whimpered, slamming his eyes shut.  
  
“You’re thirsty, starving, and disgusting, Gabe. Your daughter hasn’t had her diaper changed in days. You’re hurting her. You both need a bath and a change of clothes and something to drink. I’ll heat you some blood, Brendon’s taking care of Evie, Mike’s going to draw you a bath, okay?”  
  
Gabe nodded slowly, body falling limp on the bed as soon as Alex let go. Mike sighed, scooping him up and setting him on the ground in the bathroom, where the taller man crumpled like a rag doll. “What’s wrong dude? C’mon. If this has something to do with Pete, you should just kill him and get it- “  
  
“Bilvy’s gone, Mike. Gone for good. Gone forever. I never got to say goodbye and I’m never going to get to- “  
  
“Gabe, stop, okay.”  
  
“He didn’t want to wake me before he left. I was pregnant, he said I deserved my beauty sleep. He left a note. I called him at the hotel. He said he might be longer than he thought, but he’d be home for Chanukah. He couldn’t wait to celebrate it with our baby girl. He was going to be her father. He never said goodbye-“  
  
“We know, Gabe,” Mike sighed, scooping him up and placing him in the bathtub as it filled with warm water. “You can’t keep obsessing over it. You have an empire to run and a child to care for. You have to take care of yourself first.”  
  
Gabe fell silent, watching the water fill around his body. Brendon eventually brought the baby in, setting her in the bathroom washbasin. He grabbed the baby soap from under the sink and slowly washed away the days of neglect. Gabe never meant to hurt her, but he couldn’t expect her to survive when he barely was scraping by himself. He sighed, rinsing the soap out of her little curls, setting her on the towel to dry. He grabbed the baby oil, rubbing it into her soft skin and hair, before finally resting her back on Gabe’s chest. He gripped onto her tightly, not wanting to let go. He let her nurse a bit before finally looking up at the family around him.  
  
Alex sighed. “What happened, Gabe?”  
  
Gabe sat silent, eyes locked on the back of the tub.  
  
“Something happened, Gabe. Shit like this doesn’t just not happen.” Mike placed a hand on the edge of the tub. “You relapsed hard. But you need to tell us so we can help you.”  
  
Gabe’s face was blank as he stared out at the table. “Bill’s gone.”  
  
Brendon sighed. “We know he’s gone! For fucks sake, Gabe, it’s been five months. It’s April. He’s been fucking gone since December.”  
  
“No. He’s gone forever. He’s nothing now. He’s fucking gone. He’s nowhere, Brendon. Nowhere. Not with everyone else we lost. He’s just gone.”  
  
The three vampires didn’t know what to say. “Gabe, I know it’s a lot, but- “  
  
“They burnt the body, Mike.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“They tossed his body in the sun until all that was left was ash. He’s gone. Fucking gone. No god, no nothing.” Gabe sniffled, holding his daughter close. “He’s gone forever.”  
  
The trio sat in silence, watching the eldest man cry. No one even knew what to say. What was there to say, even? Their king was gone forever, the love of his life lost and alone without closure.

* * *

Genevieve cried that night. The storm raged on outside, lightening spooking the child every time she seemed to calm down enough for her shrieks to stop. Gabe had run out of ideas. He had tried everything, William’s cologne, his mother’s blanket, feeding her, bathing her, rubbing her tummy- nothing would soothe her.

He wandered back down to the sitting room, watching through the windows as the storm raged on outside. The best part about Scotland was that sunlight was rarely a problem. They still used the UV tinted ones, which protected against burns, but Carden was known to make trips to the store or the post office on a casual rainy day.

Evie’s screams had turned back into shallow whimpers, small sniffles that gave Gabe’s ears a break, but hurt his heart. “I know, darling, I know.” He sighed. “I wish your daddy was here. Whenever your big brother would cry, your daddy was the best at making him laugh. He was such a momma’s boy at heart though. And I know you would have been the most perfect daddy’s girl.” He wiped one of his own tears, stroking her tiny cheek.

“He misses you. I know he does. He was the best father in the world. He taught your big brother how to dance. He was a lousy dancer, but it he always managed to make it fun.” He looked back out the window, shaking his head. “He knew you were going to be a baby girl. I don’t think he could’ve guessed that you were going to be a dom. He would have loved it though. A fertile baby boy and a strong little dom. He would have been so proud. A perfect little family. Of course we would have been perfect, regardless of what you are or who you took after. You are perfect just how you are,” He sniffled, as she whined again. “I know, darling, I know. I know this world hurts. I know how scary it is out there, and it doesn’t get any easier in here.” He leaned back on the chaise, crying baby pressing her face into his chest. “It hurts so much. I know. But I’m always going to be here for you. I promise.”

He rocked her softly until she slowly drifted off into a mainly peaceful slumber. He wasn’t ready to set her back in the crib yet, knowing she wasn’t ready for that either. There was a lot that neither of them were ready for.

* * *

Lamp light flooded the empty kitchen as soft feet swept across the cold floors. Gabe was alone.

He slowly poured the hot water from the kettle into his mug, letting it linger before opening the tea drawer. It was running low, but he was going through it slowly. Back when William was alive, he’d empty the drawer once a month, maybe sooner if it were a few stressful weeks. He’d have to place another order in soon enough, just for the sake of his poor husband’s soul.

It was getting harder each day to move on. He had thought he had made some semblance of progress with mourning, slowly learning to get over the loss of the love of his life. But now he was back to square one, reliving the moment of receiving the news over and over again in his mind. Not only was Bill gone, so was his soul. His being was gone from this universe with only a baby girl to show for it. The plot in New Jersey would be empty forever, another lonely space in this large, lonely universe. He carefully selected a chamomile tea bag and set it to steep. The baby monitor was attached at his hip, and he turned up the static in his ears. He knew he shouldn’t watch his baby girl sleep, a habit that was becoming an addiction of his. He had work to do, important things that didn’t include neurotically watching his child. That didn’t keep him from letting the monitor static ring in his ears.

He took his mug into the study, setting it on the desk. He opened the file folder, sniffling back a tear. Gabe’s eye skated over the death certificate, taking a moment to hold it close to his chest. “I… I miss you,” He whispered softly, dark eyes brimming with tears. He knew the piece of paper meant nothing. It wasn’t even signed by a coroner, only the vampire counsel of Chicago. A man that didn’t know William’s life, nor how he ended up. No one wanted William in a pile of ashes dumped on a street corner.

Gabe got up slowly, grabbing the file as he stood. He walked over to the bookshelf, leaning down to the cabinet below. He pulled out the safe, hands shaking as he dialed in 3-1-1-5-1, opening the lockbox. Inside was a smaller wooden box, which Gabe removed and set in his lap. The box was ancient, worn wood and faded paint decorating the top. Gabe ran his finger over the brushstrokes, weary eyes dripping tears on the surface for far from the first time. He undid the latch, setting the files inside. This box was their everything, a remnant of his rightfully paranoid upbringing. At the drop of a hat, he could grab the box and go, knowing everything inside it was all he needed. His own birth certificate, his children’s, the passports, some cash – anything he’d need and everything he’d miss were in this box. He didn’t have any plans to run, but the reassurance was comforting.

He placed the box back in the safe with a sigh, dusting himself off as he kicked the safe shut. He heard it latch, and he closed the cabinet, locking its secrets inside. He made his way back over to the desk, sitting back in his chair. He had just raised the mug to his lips, when an unsuspected noise startled him. Tea splashed the desk, as Gabe rushed to wipe it up and the doorbell continued to ring. It was nearly 3:30 on a dreary Tuesday afternoon, no vampire in their right mind should be visiting, Gabe thought, drying the desk with the sleeve of his sweater. Mess contained and the doorbell continuing to ring in his eardrums, Gabe stumbled out of the study, an echoing of the misery he expected to find at the door.

He checked again for sunlight, but the cloud cover stayed thick, giving him the go ahead to swing the door open. It creaked and groaned, but Gabe couldn’t even mentally note to check the hinges later. His jaw dropped to the ground, tears welling in his eyes from everything from pain, to anger, to joy. The woman in the raincoat took him into her arms, a graciously accepted hug. “I missed you, Gabriel,”

Gabe sniffled, heart too numb to do much else besides nodding along. “Mamme? Where… how… it’s been so long?”

“96 years too long. I’m so sorry, bebei. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“You know about Bill?”

“I know about it all, meyn sheifale,” she placed her hands on Gabe’s cheeks, blue eyes full of tears of her own. Gabe’s instinct was to recoil, to push this woman away the same way she walked out on him and his life all those years ago. But even with the hurt in his heart, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Come in, mamme. Please. I missed you.”

* * *

Patrick chewed his lip as he sorted through mail left on the table. The bills were piling up, with fewer successful hunts as the days dragged on. There seemed to be less order to the attacks since William’s death, and the vampires were getting cocky once they noted Pete’s absence. The exhaustion was getting to him, fatigue wearing away what spunk he had left. He had taken his fast food job back to make petty cash for the bills, resulting in endless days and even longer nights.

Joe spent every moment of free time obsessively searching how to get Pete out. It was consuming him in a way Patrick wished he could inhibit, but he knew the only way they’d ever succeed at this was if he left Joe to do his thing. He knew there was little chance of Joe’s theories and plans ever being enacted, but they all needed something with a sliver of hope these days.

However, even on his mental quest to find the silver lining, Patrick nearly tossed the manila envelope addressed to a Mrs. Dale Lewis Wentz. The handwriting was sloppy, but characteristically Pete’s. When it clicked in his exhausted brain, he nearly leaped out of his seat. “Andy! Get the fuck in here!” The long-haired man jogged in, skeptical look already on his face. “What’s going on, ‘Trick? You got something?”

“Pete sent a letter to his mom to our apartment.”

“Are you sure he didn’t just forget his mom’s address?”

“Pete was able to send a letter in the first place. And he _lived_ with his parents. He’d forget the office address before he forgot his own, I’d imagine.”

Andy went a little pale. “Patrick… not to be a downer, but what if… what if that’s an apology- “

“Don’t. Don’t fucking say that,” Patrick’s heart had already sunk to his knees. More than likely it was a letter to the mother of the deceased, or even worse, Pete’s final possessions. “No. Pete’s handwriting is on the envelope. He wrote it.” He tore it open without a second thought. Andy held his breath as Patrick’s eyes lit up. “It’s him.”

“What?”

“He wrote us, no shit, dude, this was for us.” Patrick scanned the letter.

“You don’t know that- “

“Pete called his mom ‘mama’. This letter is addressed to ‘the mother hen’.”

“That’s what Pete called you and your neuroses, right?” Andy scratched his head, while Patrick’s face broke out into a smile.

“Someone must have been snooping on it, for sure. But it’s coded, I know it.”

“What does it say?”

Patrick cleared his throat, holding up the letter. At this point, Joe had turned around to listen too, eye’s alight with discovery.

“To the dearest mother hen,

I am alright, well, as well as a vampire could be. They feed me and the rooming situation could be worse. The only rat is the one that came with me. At least I have a basement room with a view. Every morning the sun shines through, just out of reach. It’s beautiful though. You’d love it.

I’ve made some friends and lost some enemies – at least, I believe I have. I’ve even become quite friendly with the rat. The child is the key to my sanity, I don’t know what we wouldn’t do around here without the joy of a baby. Children really do make the world a better place. I know I said I’m never having kids, but my mind has been swayed.

The lady of the house is quite charming. I was surprised at first, but I’ve grown quite accustomed to it by now. A sweet maternal influence is just what the doctor ordered, ma, you’d be proud. I wish you could come visit us, it really is wonderful this time of year.

I’ll hopefully see you soon,

Love, your son.”

Joe cracked a grin. “You know what this means, right? We were right. Gabe was the fertile- “

“Brendon is the rat, and Adrian, the baby, is the key! The key to his sanity is the key to his escape, we just need to figure it out!” Patrick’s heart raced. “He knows everything we need to know to take them out. We can do it.”

Joe nodded, and Andy cracked a grin. “The sun in the window- he’s in the basement on the east side of the house. How many basement windows can there be?”

“We can get him out. Brendon’s contacts have to be valid, he doesn’t know- “

“Wait. Brendon doesn’t know we know that we can’t trust him?” Patrick smiled. “This sounds crazy, I know. But I think we can get Pete out.”

* * *

“I thought you never wanted children, Gabriel,” His mother bounced the infant gently, rocking her close to her chest.

“It’s been nearly a century. People change. I’m allowed to be a different person now than I used to be,” Gabe sighed, pulling a sweater on. It was one of William’s favorites, the color bringing out Gabe’s freckles and eyes. Gabe always brushed off the compliments as William’s flair for the dramatic, but his confidence was uplifted, nevertheless.

“I know. It really has been too long.” Gabe nodded. He wasn’t in any mood to fight with her, especially not everything else on his plate. He had moved beyond asking why she left, or what it was that he did that caused her to leave. He was tired of asking questions that he already knew the answer to.

“How did you find me? How did you even know we were here?”

“Your brother,” the woman shifted the baby to her hip, holding her granddaughters’ hand with her thumb. Gabe froze.

“Ricky? He’s been off the grid for years- “

“So have I, zeeskeit,” She sighed. “South America had very relaxed immigration laws. Same little peninsula where you and your brother were born. We found each other a few decades ago. He married this sweet girl, they have children of their own. We live within an hour of each other.”

Gabe didn’t know what to say. “You guys have been there all this time? I… I knew you were both in hiding, but I didn’t…”

She placed a hand on his shoulder, reaching her thumb to wipe his tears. “I’m sorry, Gabriel. We should have let you and your husband know.”

“I… I didn’t even want to see you. You left me, you mean nothing to me,” Gabe sniffled, “Ricky and I mail each other once a year. The only family I had seen in decades was Papa- did you even care?”

His mother sat back down, the child in her arms becoming a little restless. “I’m sorry, darling, I really- “

“I’m not looking for fucking apologies, Jeannette. I haven’t seen you in a century and you’re only here looking for forgiveness? No amount of sorry is going to bring back my family, especially not a family you never met,” Gabe snapped, hands shaking with pent up frustration. “Losing you was only the beginning. Do you know how much else I lost? You show up in the middle of the day expecting forgiveness and generosity-“

“That’s not why I’m here, Gabriel.” Her voice was calm, the lilt of his words soothing him over. She placed a hand on his daughter’s head, rocking her back to sleep. “I have an offer to make you.”

Gabe’s eyes stayed transfixed on the child in her arms, watching a placated smile slip over her sleepy face, at peace in the other woman’s arms. “What kind of offer?”

“There’s a pretty robust vampire community in Montevideo and more rural parts of Uruguay. They have a direct blood contact with most of the hospitals and a few good connections in the mutualista system. There’s immunity. Vampires are considered citizens as long as you sign a non-violence pact as part of your citizenship application.”

“So you want me to move there with you and my brother.”

“I was just offering it as an option, Gabriel. There’s no need to get defensive.”

“Why? To be closer to family? A family I haven’t seen in years?” Gabe shook his head. “The Dandies need me.”

“You have a second in command picked out, right? You could retire. Your child would be out of danger. You could live a normal life. Your daughter would have cousins, you would finally get a break,” Jeannette stood up again, setting the sleeping child back against her mother’s chest. “You’ve already lost so much. You deserve some time to move on.”

“There’s no such thing as moving on until I can make sure no vampire has to experience my husband’s fate. A husband _you_ never met” The words came out in a growl as he clutched the child close. “You think William would have wanted me to give up my everything? You think he’d have wanted me to give up the empire he built because I lost him?”

“You deserve to take a break. You deserve to mourn in peace. Gabe, you’re hurting. You’re hurting so badly. Darling, you’re in pain, you need to think of – “

“Being selfish isn’t going to bring William back.”

“Neither is working yourself to the brink of exhaustion, Gabriel. How many hours a day are you sleeping? You’re pale as a ghost, when’s the last time you ate? You don’t look well, and I can’t imagine you feel any better- “

“Mamme, I’m fine.” Gabe mumbled, sitting back down. He sat silent for a moment, letting it sink in. He was barely sleeping at all anymore, despite barely having the energy to get out of bed. The last time he drank was when the Dandies forced him to, and he couldn’t remember the last time before that. “Look. I’m sorry. But my family is here now. Brendon, Ryan, Suarez – everyone here is my family. I missed you. And I miss Ricky and Papa and my sisters in law, but this is my home. This is where William… this is where we decided to raise our family together. And I appreciate the offer. I really do. I… I like the idea of it. But I have a legacy to leave, and an empire to run, and most importantly, a child to raise. My life is here now, and it’s not going anywhere any time soon.”

Jeannette nodded, cupping his face in her hands. “I understand. I’m so proud of the man you’ve become, boychik. So very proud.”

Gabe sniffled, cradling Evie close. “I know. Thank you, mamme.”

She brushed herself off, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and handing Gabe an envelope. “Here’s a fake passport and identification for you and the child. Ricky’s friend at customs got them for you. I … I was hoping we’d use them when you came back with me. But you need time. The offer will always be on the table, darling. Always.”

Gabe nodded slowly, setting the package on the table. She pulled her coat tight and brought her son into a hug, before kissing his cheek goodbye.

“Adios, meyn sheifale. I hope to see you again soon.”

He waved a little as she walked out of the bedroom and swiftly disappeared, before collapsing into a puddle of tears on his own.

* * *

“Lemme get this straight. Pete’s in the basement of a creepy ass mansion in rural Scotland. The whole house is crawling with vampires who _know_ we want them dead, and all the shit we know about it comes from one of those same vampires.” Travie kicked up his feet, shaking his head. “And you want to fuckin’ raid it?”

“Not raid it. We just want to get Pete and go.”

“And Pete just wanted to shoot one guy and go, and now he’s been gone for two months. And all you have is a cryptic ass message? Bullshit.”

“Trav, Pete’s alive for a reason. He would be dead if they didn’t want something from him. We get Pete, we have leverage. We can take them out for good.”

“And what if you end up dead too. Who’s gonna continue the good fight? It ain’t gonna be me, ‘Trick, I’m the chauffeur, not the warrior.”

Patrick sighed. “We need to trust you, Travie. We’ve trusted the wrong people in the past and look where it got us now.”

Travie looked down at the shorter man, sighing softly. “Alright. I’ll drive you to the damn airport. But that’s it, you hear me?”

Patrick grinned. “Of course.”

* * *

Brendon knocked on the door of the study, grinning ear to ear. “Gabe, Ryan got a copy of Pete’s letter made.”

The door swung open to reveal Gabe slumped over the desk a little, mug of blood gone cold. “What?”

“That bogus code letter Pete sent. He thought he was being sneaky and wrote the most bullshit code letter. He doesn’t seem to realize that it won’t make sense to anyone but him and us.”

Gabe scoffed. “What does it say?”

“It talks about how I’m a ‘rat’ and that ‘children are the key to his sanity’. You’re the lady of the house now, according to him.”

He chuckled a little, taking the letter copy. “Great. Put reinforcements on his window just in case they get cocky, and keep an eye out for him, will you?”

Brendon nodded. “You got it boss.”

He smiled, scanning over the letter. Pete’s cronies probably read into every single word of that letter and were preparing their daring break now. He couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m going to head down, make him feel a little guilty, you know?”

“What’s the plan?”

Gabe smirked a little. “You’ll see.”

* * *

Pete let out a groan, hearing the click of Gabe’s shoes on the floor. “What do you want now?”

“I just came down here to let you know that your letter shipped yesterday.”

“Oh. Um, thank you.” Pete blushed a little, feeling embarrassed by his defensive nature.

“Of course. You know, your mother is probably extremely grateful to get that letter,” Gabe sighed, sitting down in the chair across from him. “If god-forbid anything happens to my little Evie, I’d want to know she was safe.”

“Yeah… yeah…” Pete mumbled. Gabe smirked.

“I mean, mother to mother, I know she’d be very happy. You made it sound so lovely here. I feel like maybe someday I should meet this sweet old woman. You made me sound so kind to her, I’m sure she’d have no hesitations about meeting with the lady of the house.”

The guilt sunk deeper into Pete’s bones as he grimaced slightly. “Yeah. She doesn’t like vampires, though. Hates that I’m one.”

“Well, maybe I can change her mind, perhaps similar to how I changed yours. About having kids, you know?” The smirking grin on Gabe’s face grew wider as Pete squirmed in his seat.

“Okay, fine,” Pete stood up, sighing. “Listen. I’m sorry I cremated your husband. I really am. I just…” He took a deep breath, clenching his fists. “I’m sorry. I had spent so long seeing him as a murderer. In my head, he was just some guy that killed people and drank their blood and taunted the very people defending their own lives. But fuck it, man. That’s exactly what I am to you. I killed your fucking husband and you’re feeding me and showing off your baby. You’re treating me like a human, rather than a monster who killed everyone around them. I’m sorry. I really am.”

Gabe froze. This certainly was unexpected. “I know.”

“You don’t deserve this. I know it sounds shitty, but you deserve better. I… William hurt a lot of people. And I don’t feel okay condoning his actions. And I… I don’t know if he should still be alive today or not. But I don’t think it should have been up to me to decide. And we could have at least treated him like a person that deserved to be mourned and respected. Not yesterday’s dirty trash.”

“It’s nice to hear you say that, Pete.”

“I know it doesn’t make up for anything. But I mean it, I really do. I feel like shit, you deserve better than being here all alone.”

“I’m not alone here, Pete,” Gabe looked out the dungeon door, back at the Dandies’ quarters. “I still have a family. Brendon, Ryan, Alex, Mike, Adam, Andrew- they’re my family. My daughter will never meet her dad. That’s something you took from me, that you will never be able to give back.” He sniffled, staring back into Pete’s cage where the man was crying as well. “That’s the part that hurts the most. But my daughter will always be loved. She will always have a family to come home to. And that’s something you can never take from her.” He spoke with such conviction that a chill went down Pete’s spine. “And as long as we have that, we will never be alone.”

* * *

_The study was cold, air circulating slowly. He pulled his mink fur closer around him, closing the door as he entered. His father looked up. “William. My son, how lovely it is to have you join me. Did you bring your fertile?”_

_“Gabriel is in the guest room, father.”_

_William Sr. smiled graciously at his son. “It feels like just yesterday that I was witnessing your wedding in this very castle. It was a beautiful ceremony. You two looked like you truly belong.”_

_Bill nodded, sitting down across from his father. “We do. We’re very happy together.”_

_“I know. Any plans for children?”_

_“We’ve been trying on and off. We both want them, badly. We just haven’t really committed to trying yet, but we’ll be happy when the time comes. You told me you had a new contact in the states?”_

_The man smiled. “Turned him last month. His name is Andrew Mrotek. He’s a butcher, formal training and everything. He’s going to be our disposal guy from now one for Chicago.”_

_“What happened to Henry?”_

_The older man’s face soured. “Hunters got to him. I’m so sorry.”_

_William didn’t know what to say. As the shock wore off, tears welled in his eyes. Henry was like an uncle to him, the head of the Dandies in Chicago. He treated William like his own little kid, teaching him everything a good vampire would need to know. “He’s just… gone?”_

_His father nodded, standing up to walk over to the other side of the desk. He put on a stiff upper lip as he set a hand on the boy’s shoulder, watching as he began to cry. “I am so sorry, Bill. I know how much he meant to you.”_

_William sniffled, wiping his eyes. “Dad, he was like your brother. And now…”_

_“I know. They took him from us wrongfully. He deserved better. I’m sorry –“_

_“Why do they take everything? They can’t fucking leave us be?” William snapped. “We’re harmless when we’re not defending our children from the goddamn monsters that shoot our babies in the street! Gabe…” he took a deep breath, shaking out his hands. “Gabe had two little cousins in Austria who were shot in the street last week. Just cause they’re Jewish, just cause they’re vampires – none of that should matter. Gabe wants babies, but he’s too anxious to even conceive. I’m terrified. I want our families to stop shrinking at the hands of these people who do nothing but hate.”_

_“Believe me, child, I know.” His words of comfort were interrupted by a knock at the door._

_“Mr. Bilvy? Sir, I have your tea-“ Without motion, the door opened to reveal a thin boy, shaking in the doorframe. William smiled softly, tears still pooling in his eyes._

_“Thank you, Ryan. I appreciate it.”_

_William’s father smiled, extending a hand to the boy. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. – “_

_“Ross.”_

_“My pleasure, Mr. Ross.” Ryan nodded, sitting softly to the side while William collected himself._

_“I’m sorry, Father. It’s just hard to see him as… gone.” He shuddered._

_“I know. And I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. I can’t do this forever, Bill. Losing your mother was hard. I don’t want to have to lose you or your sister, or any of you kids like that. But I also need to know my limits. Which is why I’m retiring and passing the Dandies to you.”_

_William’s jaw fell to the floor. “Father, I can’t. I’m 35 years old, I’m still so young, I have so much to learn.”_

_“You’re an intelligent boy, William. You have an incredibly capable and smart husband. You have already done extremely fine in turning those two young vampires, as I’m sure Mr. Ross could attest to,” He gestured in Ryan’s direction._

_“Dad, I couldn’t possibly accept. I swear, I’m not ready.”_

_“William. I am not the man my father was. Nor am I the man you will be. But I am not appointing you as my successor because you are my son, or because I am in any way worried about blood.” He placed his hand back on his son’s shoulder. “I am selecting you because you are the one that I trust to run the Dandies when I am gone. I raised you to be a man I believe in. You will lead us to do great things. This is why I have chosen you. Not because you are just my son. But because you are you.”_

_William nodded, wiping his eyes softly. “You really believe so?”_

_“I do. You will be a wonderful Dandy, William. I believe in you.”_

_The boy sniffled. “Thank you, dad.”_

_William Beckett Sr. nodded, smiling as he pulled his son into a hug. “I wish only the best for you, William. You and Gabriel will be the greatest leaders the world will ever see.”_

Ryan looked down at the piece of paper in his hands, nausea bubbling up in his stomach. He hadn’t been able to read it, not since that fateful meeting in Chicago that snowy December night. William had called a meeting in his room to discuss the future, just the two of them. It was a little unorthodox, a turned vampire running the largest vampire organization in the world. William reassured these worries, however, along with any other ones he had. He believed Ryan had it in him, the same way his father had believed in him. “You were there, Ryan, you remember.” William’s voice echoed in his head, sending a shiver down his spine.

He had wanted Ryan’s opinion before he pitched the idea to Gabe. He wanted to make sure Ryan would accept before he got his husband’s hopes up. But he wanted to retire. He was having a baby soon, hopefully one of many, and he was already looking at houses near Gabe’s parents and even a random few in Southern Florida. It seemed almost ironic now that his final resting place was under the harsh heat of the sun. He respected Ryan, not only for his ability to lead, but his ability to pick a suitable successor.

“For fucks sake, Ryan, just tell him. He’s going to kill himself trying to do this. What would William have wanted?” Brendon was getting frustrated with Ryan’s woes, his inability to see beyond the ‘what if?’.

“He was only going to retire so he could live freely. So he could spend more time with his baby girl. He loved it. Gabe loved it.”

“And I know Gabe would love to feel like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He’s literally dying. You know it’s all too much for him to handle. He deserves the break William wanted for him.”

Ryan sighed. “I don’t even know what I’d tell him. ‘Hey, your husband actually didn’t want you on the throne.’ He’s doing so much for the community. This note would kill him.”

“I assure you. It would hurt no more than the stress he has on him now. The letter places you in charge under a mutual resignation. Gabe still has legal right unless he steps down or dies.” Brendon groaned. “It’s better if he knows, and you know it. He needs to know that Evie won’t have to worry about inheriting the throne if Jesus forbid anything happens to him.”

Ryan chuckled a little, looking back down at the letter. “Your Mormon is showing, Urie,” He teased, but the joke fell flat, emotionless tone sucking the humor from it. “Anyway, do you actually think we’re going to be attacked by Pete’s little hunter friends.”

Brendon shrugged. “I hope. It’s been so long since I actually drank from a neck. I miss finding a good hunter to eat. The blood bags are sure nice, but it’s not the same.”

“I worry about Evie, you know. She’s growing up so alone and Gabe certainly isn’t helping as much as he could. Not that I blame him,” Ryan ran a hand through his fluffy hair. “Poor guy. He’s been through so much. He deserves so much more than everything the world is throwing at him. He… he’s more than an adoptive parent-“

“He and William were our everything.” They were even more than just that- they were the family they lost and the family they never had. Their children were their siblings and their nieces and nephews and their own children. Gabe and William filled the void that was left when Ryan’s mom ran away and when Brendon’s father told him he didn’t deserve to know love. Calling them their everything felt like an understatement. “I know. We all need time to mourn.”

“I know. I just want to help in any way I can. He’s been through hell.”

“And we’re going to help him back,” Brendon stood up. “Listen. I don’t expect you to know exactly how to fix it, or how to make it all better. But he wouldn’t want you to keep this secret forever.”

Ryan nodded, gently refolding the piece of paper in his hands “I know, Bren. I know. I just need some time. I don’t think I ever really processed the offer.”

“I know. I haven’t really either.”

“It’s a lot.” Brendon gripped his hand, Ryan squeezing back, his grip firm.

“Do you think… do you think the two of us could do it?”

“We can do whatever the fuck we want. We’re vampires.”

Ryan chuckled a little but sobered up immediately. “You know what I mean. Really. What do you think?”

“William would never have picked you if he didn’t think you would do amazing.” Brendon kissed his cheek. “That, I know. Now come on. We have more important things to fret over than silly letters and international affairs.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow, while Brendon slipped his fingers into Ryan’s beltloops. “Don’t think sex will be enough to get me out of my funk.”

“It’s something to relax your mind. If you’re okay with that, it is.”

Ryan’s face broke out into a sly smile, setting the letter on the table in order to dig his fingers into Brendon’s scalp. “Okay with it? You clearly came to the right person.”

Brendon smiled, kissing his face softly. “You will always be the right person for me.”

* * *

Joe closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the headrest. He looked out the window at the rolling hills and peaking mountains, stomach jolting from the rocky dirt road. “Are we almost there yet?”

“Pipe down, we’ll be there when we get there. You’re soundin’ like my nephew, always whinin’,” The cab driver chastised him. He was an elderly man with greying auburn hair and a scraggly beard. According to what people said, he knew this area of the east Highlands better than anyone else- of course, that knowledge came with a price. For Joe, that price was a nauseating cab ride full of “shortcuts” that the man insisted were quicker. He had been in the car for nearly four hours at this point, combined with a five-hour plane trip, and he wasn’t sure how much more he could stomach. He had taken a normal cab up to Aberdeen, but once he made it past there, Mr. Gordon was his only hope of navigating the land.

“I’m sorry, sir.” Joe swallowed the lump in his throat, looking out the window from the back seat. “So… what do you know of this area?”

“It’s pretty nice, this time of year. Good whiskey, lots of floral hints. You a drinker, lad?”

Joe shook his head. “Only occasionally. But I’ll try some here and there.”

“Atta boy. I’d say it’d put some hairs on your chest, but it seems like that’s all taken care of,” The man laughed, eye’s squinting as he did so. Joe chuckled nervously along.

“Have you heard of any, you know… local legends?”

“No need to go all inconspicuous on me, Jonathan Harker, I know you’re asking about them vampires,” The man smiled a rough, toothy grin. The state of his gums alone made Joe want to vomit into his cup holder. To soothe his own anxieties, he popped a piece of gum in his own mouth, reaching up and grabbing a piece of his hair to fidget with as he talked.

“Yeah. You got me. I’m asking about the vampires.” Joe was suspicious, but the sun was shining high in the sky, and Mr. Gordon had already gotten out to pee twice, both times without incident of him burning to a crisp in the midday sun. The dandies didn’t work with humans, not closely anyway. Some records showed they worked with humans at hospitals for blood transport and drop off, but that was probably closer in line with their need for morgue storage than anything else. “How often do people around here go missing?”

“You mean how often they snatch someone?” The man laughed. “You really are a Fandan, ain’t ya?”

“A what?”

“A fool! No man, woman, not child’s been snatched from these hills in the past hundred years!”

Joe raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

The man scoffed. “They got a contract with the Red Cross, gives ‘em all the damn blood they could ever dream of. Why’d they ever need to kill a man when they get it without any of the nasty bits?” Mr. Gordon looked out at the road ahead, “Where you from, lad?”

“Chicago.” Joe was slightly in shock, trying to process everything he had just been told. It seemed to make no sense, why would the Dandies kill hunters on a daily basis if they already had a contract to get all of the blood they would need.

“Long way to come here just to spot a vampire. Isn’t your city crawlin’ with ‘em?”

Joe sighed. “I’m looking for a specific group of vampires. Any castles in the region that are less ruined than the others?”

“There’s a castle on every other ben, son. Be more specific.”

“One that’s accessible to a town that has mail. But is remote enough that they don’t have many visitors, but still has electricity.”

The man sat in silence for a moment before the car screeched to a halt. “You ain’t talking about the Beckett manor, are ya lad?”

Joe’s face lit up. “Yes! That’s it- “

“They’ve been paying the nearby towns a pretty penny for their electricity, have been since the ‘20s. They give about six thousand pounds a year, even though they don’t use nearly that much power, and the grids are small anyway. Makes it cheaper for the rest of us, right laddie?” He smiled again, and Joe went pale as he cut a sharp u- turn. “Don’t go and boke on me, son, cheer up. I’ll take you to the driveway of the manor. That’s as close as I’ll get, that place scares the devil outta me.”

“You think there are vampires there?”

“If they’re anywhere, they’d be there. Somethin ain’t right about that place, always something unsettling, Chills you to the bone.” He shuddered. Joe’s heart raced with excitement as they wound their way through the highlands. Joe swallowed his gum and his pride and asked one final question.

“If I need to call for a quick ride back to Aberdeen, should I call you back, or another taxi?”

“You think I’d stick around long enough to see the shit ya stickin your nose into? No bloody way. I’m outta here.” He shook his head, and Joe felt a sinking feeling in his gut for more than just nausea.

* * *

Pete startled awake to the sound of a loud tap on the window. He looked up, before nearly screaming. He pressed his face as close as he could to the bars without being burned to look out the window. “Joe?”

Joe was laying on his belly, looking in through the tiny window. It was smaller than he thought, no bigger than an envelope, certainly not enough to sneak in through. “Can you hear me?”

Pete nodded, giving him a thumbs up. “Can you hear me?"

Joe grinned. “Loud and clear, Wentz. God, I’ve missed you. We got your letter.”

“I assumed so. How else would you know how to get here?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. I’d figure it out. Anyway, we fucking solved it without you, so thanks for that.”

Pete raised an eyebrow. “Solved what?”

“Gabe. William’s husband? He’s actually the fertile, not the dom. I did that one myself.”

He almost laughed. “Yeah… I got that one too. But thanks.”

“How did you figure it out- “

“I’ve been living with him for the past months. I had time.”

“Oh… yeah. I forgot about that,” Joe was suddenly grateful that Pete couldn’t see his blush. “You doing okay in there?”

Pete nodded. “It could be worse. They feed me, they keep me safe, I talk to them sometimes.”

“We’re trying to get you out, I promise. I don’t care if we have to burn the whole damn place to the ground in order to do it- “

“Seriously, Joe. You don’t need to do that. You really, shouldn’t do that,” Pete’s words tumbled out of his mouth before he could even process what he was saying. What was he even talking about, of course he wanted to get out! He wanted to never hear Gabe’s dress shoes click on the cobblestone basement floor ever again, he never wanted to see the room illuminated by a four-inch by nine-inch window. He wanted to be free.

Yet something panged in his heart at the idea of the castle being burnt to the ground. There was so much in there that deserved to be respected, deserved to be saved, even if it cost him his own damn freedom. Not to mention, he couldn’t bear the thought of the small child he knew to be sleeping upstairs potentially losing her life. The child was making him soft, as children often do, and while he recognized it, he couldn’t help but succumb. Every time Gabe held her tight in his arms, his heart panged for this tiny, little baby girl. He couldn’t help but feel some kind of protectiveness over the child who he himself had rendered fatherless.

“You don’t want to be free? Are you kidding me? That’s ridiculous, Wentz. We’re figuring out a way right now.”

“Seriously. Do you know what amazing intel I’m getting? I’m destroying them from the inside out. Works better than the outside in. I promise.”

“What kind of intel?”

“Well… I think Brendon still wants to work with us,” he fibbed, biting his lip. “Gabe’s super busy with the new baby- “

“New baby?”

“Yeah. He… he has a little kid.” Pete gulped. He didn’t mean to accidentally reveal his _enemy’s_ greatest weakness, albeit a weakness he was not immune to himself.

“How old?’

“Really little. A baby. That’s how I found out he was a fertile and not a dom. He had a little kid and no fertile to even step in and baby sit.” Pete chewed his lower lip. Joe seemed to accept the mostly truth.

“I never got vampire gender shit, but I’ll take your word for it. Any word on Adrian?”

“Who?”

“Adrian. You know… Gabe and William’s kid?”

“Dude, this new baby is their first- “

“Pete, I’m telling you, it’s literally not. Ask him. They have a kid named Adrian who’s like, your dad’s age. I promise. Worst case is he lies and you just think I’m wrong. Best case is, we get some amazing intel.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I think that they’re trying to keep a low profile so that this Adrian guy can step in to run the Dandies now that William’s gone and take the weight of his dear mother’s back. Keep the dynasty going until new baby can step in once he’s already got a kid lined up in hiding and ready for the throne- “

“She. It’s a baby girl.”

“What does it matter. They’re vampires, they’re all the same,” Joe rolled his eyes. “Do you think you’ll be able to write more letters?”

“Yeah. I think so. You deciphered the first one fine and all?”

Joe nodded. “Of course. Shit dude, now we have two inside guys? This keeps getting better and better.” Joe looked behind him, as the sky behind him had started to tinge purple with the slightest hints of twilight. “Fuck, dude, I have to go. I promise, I’ll be back if I can, okay?”

Pete gave him a thumbs up. “I missed you, Trohman, I’ll see you soon, okay?”

Joe nodded, waving goodbye before all that Pete could see of him was his feet. He slumped back in the cell, shaking his head with a groan. “What the hell did you get yourself into this time, Wentz,” he mumbled to himself, resting his head against the stone wall. “How did you fuck up this time?”

* * *

_Gabe squeezed William’s hand, walking up the same stone path he had walked up many times before. They hadn’t even got to the porch when a nine-year-old dashed out the door, stopping Gabe in his tracks with a hug. “Mama!”_

_“Hey baby,” Gabe grinned, scooping up his son and kissing his forehead. “How have you been?”_

_“Good! Zeyde says I’m doing so good in school and I got to have Jake sleep over for my birthday!” He beamed. “I missed you mama.”_

_“I missed you too, baby. Daddy and I tried to make it home for your birthday, I promise, but we got pushed back a couple weeks. I’m sorry, baby.”_

_Adrian sighed. “It’s okay. Did you bring my present?”_

_William laughed, tugging on one of his son’s loose curls. “You bet we did. Now I’ve got to go get it from the car, but you and mama can go inside, and I’ll bring it in.”_

_The boy nodded, beaming like the sun. “I missed you too, daddy.”_

_William rubbed his back. “I know, baby, I missed you too. Now come on, can’t wait forever.”_

_Gabe carried the little boy inside, setting him down on the couch while William went back to the car. “Gabriel, baby, how are you?”_

_“I’m good, Papa. I heard Adrian’s been doing quite well in school lately._

_The shorter vampire grinned. “He’s got his mama’s brains, that’s for sure.” Gabe blushed as Diego reached up and pinched his son’s cheek. “He missed you so much”_

_“I know, papa. I missed him too,” he looked over at the child, playing with his grandmother. He was so happy, so oblivious. He looked back at his father. “How have you and Ilana been?”_

_“Good, Gabriel, we’ve been good. Taking care of things, helping Adrian with schoolwork. The hospitals been busy, if you need some fresher blood anytime soon-“_

_“Thanks Papa. I think we’re good.”_

_“How has…How has pretending to be a Dom been? Is it easier than expected? Harder?”_

_“Kind of both. I’m not the leader of the Dandies, though William gets a lot of attention from people saying I should be. A lot of people are not happy with the idea that a fertile is running the most dangerous gang in the world. I don’t like having to hide the fact that I had Adrian and I don’t like the fact that Bilvy and I can’t really have another baby.”_

_“You want another child?”_

_Gabe sighed. “I do. I’m not sure if William does or not. But besides, the fact that we couldn’t have one even if we wanted to is hard.”_

_Diego hugged his adult son. “I’m sorry sheifale.”_

_“Don’t be, papa. It had to be done.”_

_“Mama! Zeyde! Daddy needs help bringing the box in,” Adrian rushed to help his father, while the two adults followed along. William smiled, setting a carrier on top of the wrapped crate._

_“Adrian, baby, I need you to close your eyes.” The nine-year-old closed his eyes, as William retrieved a small black dog from the little carrier. The four adults watched as William set the dog in the boy’s arms, and he opened his eyes wide, grinning._

_“You got me a puppy?!” He grinned, holding the dog close._

_“Careful, baby.” Gabe helped him set the dog down on the carpet. “He’s a couple years old, so he’s pretty well trained, but you could still teach him some tricks if you wanted!”_

_“I love him!” The little boy squealed, grinning ear to ear._

_“We felt bad that we could never give you the little sibling you always wanted-“_

_“This is even better than a little brother or sister! Thanks mama!”_

_Gabe smiled. “Thank your Bubbe and Zeyde too, for letting you have him.”_

_“Thank you!” He beamed, stroking the dog’s fur. Gabe squeezed William’s hand._

_“You’re very, very welcome.”_

* * *

Gabe washed his hands again, wiping the flour from the countertop. It had been a long time since he had made dinner for the Dandies, and even longer since he had gone through the efforts of making challah for the group. Evie was seated in the baby basket they had bought long ago- he couldn’t remember if it was for Adrian, or a hand-me-down from one of William’s siblings, but it did its job. He set the challah dough in the oven to rise, picking up his baby girl. “Hey, meyn sheifale. You want to help mamme with the sauce?”

He set her down on the counter, running a hand through her little curls. She shrieked with laughter, propping herself up with her tiny hands. She was chubby for almost two and a half months old, but she looked more and more like her father every day. She stuck her fingers in her mouth, gumming at her tiny hand. Gabe smiled, grabbing the tomatoes from the fridge and starting to chop them. He wasn’t trying to do anything too authentic, just a wine sauce with tomatoes to add something to the otherwise bland box pasta. The baby watched, slowly reaching for a whole tomato on the side of the board. Gabe watched her warily, smiling as she picked it up, trying to fit it in her tiny mouth. He chuckled, taking it from her hand before she tried to grab at his own fingers. He opened her mouth just enough to get a hand in and ran his fingers along her gums. He smiled, kissing her forehead. “I think someone’s finally teething. Your fangs are going to come in soon, baby doll.” Vampire fangs came in sooner than the other baby teeth, so it wasn’t a surprise that she was already showing signs of teething. He continued chopping the tomatoes for the sauce, adding just enough oil and cooking some onions and garlic in the pot, before finally adding some of the tomatoes. He added the wine and some crushed tomatoes to the pot after the fresh tomatoes had gotten some color and left it to summer. He missed cooking for his family, almost as much as he missed the family he used to cook for. He shook his head, pushing that thought out of his mind. The Dandies were his family, and there was no changing that.

By that time, the challah dough had doubled in size, and he removed it from the warm over, setting the oven temperature to the appropriate baking temperature. He smiled, washing his hands and wiping down his princess, before letting her stick her pudgy little fingers in the dough. It was warm and squishy, and she giggled with her hands in the dough. “It feels good, doesn’t it baby doll?” He kissed her face again, splitting the dough up to braid it. He sighed, covering the braided loaf with a towel to let it rise one last time.

“My mamme taught me how to make this,” He mumbled to his daughter, who was more intrigued by the tile countertop than she was with listening to his rambles. “And I’m going to teach you. I’m going to live long enough to teach you. And so are you. I’m not letting down my baby girl.”

* * *

“What do you mean?”

“They’re keeping him in a dungeon. That window he mentioned? It was tiny. He’s in solitary confinement. It’s cruel and unusual, Patrick.”

Patrick’s already pale face went white. “Is he alright? Like, is he okay?”

“They’re feeding him. But it looked disgusting. The toilet was cracked and old, and he looked freezing. It isn’t humane, they’re treating him like an animal.” Joe shuddered. “We can’t let them keep him locked up in there forever. He needs to be saved.”

Andy groaned. “Yeah, Trohman. Care to explain why _you_ didn’t free him when you had the chance?”

“He’s gathering intel! He said the guys in there are starting to trust him more- “

“He’s losing his goddamn mind in there. They don’t trust him. They’d never trust a hunter and you know that. Don’t try and act like he’s on the inside. He’s their prisoner. They’re just taking their sweet time to kill a traitor.”

“He seemed confident,” Joe insisted. “Listen, I’m jet lagged and exhausted, is there any way we could continue this tomorrow?’

“Pete could be dead already tomorrow, in case you’ve forgotten,” Patrick slammed his fist on the table. “You said the conditions were inhumane. He’s hurting. He has to be, Joe, we can’t do nothing. What would Pete want us to do?”

“Pete would want us to do what he says,” Joe bared his teeth. “Unless your little crush is making you delusional, Patrick, and you forget what a huge stickler for orders your _boyfriend_ was.”

Patrick’s cheeks flushed red. “Joe, I don’t know if you know this, but which one of us was there for him when he was up for five days with insomnia? Who was there for him during his third suicidal breakdown of the month when he could hardly handle himself because he was so scared of the monster he saw himself as? This is more than just a crush, or even a fucking friendship. Pete is incredibly unstable. You know it just as well as I do. And you expect him to be capable of giving coherent directions and orders while trapped in a dungeon? How am I supposed to be okay with that?” He shook his head.

Joe sighed, “I don’t want to disobey him directly. He said he’d write another letter when he gets the chance.”

“Another heavily censored letter? Great. We all love that so much.”

“Andrew now is not the time for unrelenting cynicism,” Patrick barked.

“Oh, look at you, all your fancy words, ‘mother hen’,” Andy sighed, picking up his knife. “It’s been nearly a week since we went out hunting.”

“Our last three hunts have turned up empty handed. You know that. We wouldn’t want to embarrass ourselves like that again. The Greater Chicago Area Hunters Association is going to be on our ass if we only manage one or two vampires over the course of four hunts.”

“As if the three zeros on our record aren’t bad enough,” Joe muttered. “But Pat’s right. We need Pete back before we do a successful hunt.”

Patrick crossed his arms smugly. “So. How are we getting him out of there?”

“We’re going to wait,” Joe sighed. “Hear me out. He said he was going to ask about Adrian. The next letter we get, we can find out about his mysterious whereabouts.  
We can’t just plan around things we certainly do not know. Once we get what we need to know out of the way, then we can plan phase two.”

“What’s phase two?”

A smirk came across Joe’s face, pyromaniacal twinkle in his deep blue eyes. “Operation Look Out Sunshine. We’re burning these motherfuckers to the ground where they stand.”

* * *

Pete smiled as Gabe made his way to his cell. “What’s up Gabe?”

Gabe grinned back, holding a bowl in his hands. “Want some pasta?”

Pete shrugged. “Sure.” Gabe slid the bowl through the food slot.

“The pasta’s from a box, but I made the bread and the sauce myself. We had a family dinner and I thought you might have wanted to join. Or at least have something good to eat.”

He blushed heavily, taking the bowl in his hands. “Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.”

Gabe sat back. “Try it. Is it good?”

Pete took a bite, grinning as he went in for a second. “Shit, this is really good man. Thanks.”

“I made it from scratch. With Evie’s help, of course,” He chuckled, rolling his wedding band around his finger. “And Suarez and Carden are doing the dishes for me so I don’t have to later.” Pete could hear the water run through the pipes, coming from the kitchen upstairs. “Our dining room doesn’t really get much usage. But it’s always quite nice to have a little family dinner every now and then.”

Pete smiled. “Yeah. They really are like your family, huh.”

“They are my family,” Gabe’s voice walked a thin line between extremely proud and defensive. Pete decided to air on the side of proud. “I love them all so much. I really am grateful for my baby girl to have such an amazing framework of men around her who can help love and support her. I wish I had more girls around… she really deserves that too. But my mom came by recently, and my baby brother is married so he may bring his wife over sometime every now and then.”

“It… it sounds nice. It really does.” Part of Pete’s heart panged with loneliness. Their community sounded like it had become a gang of misfits that Pete so greatly desired to be a part of, the idea of fitting in almost a hopeless dream in his mind.

“You know… you were welcomed to join, Pete,” Gabe sighed, watching as the man dipped his challah in the sauce remaining at the bottom of the bowl. “Bilvy wanted you here. He saw such amazing potential for you as part of our group. I mean it, I really do,” Gabe wiped his eyes a little, letting out a deep sigh. “Up until the end, I still think he saw that in you. Even though you’re the one who…” He sniffled. “You know. I still think he saw the good in you.”

“I’m so sorry,” Pete sighed. Gabe looked up, handkerchief covering his face. “Really. I know it sounds insincere. I just… I don’t trust William. I still don’t. He’s too… He’s not innocent.”

“None of us are innocent.”

“I know. Which is why it feels so wrong to judge. But I didn’t like William. But I like you. I like Evie. I like Brendon and Mike and everyone else who I haven’t really met. You guys didn’t deserve to lose your guy. And I think I should have given you guys another chance.”

“I wish you had.” Gabe sighed, taking the bowl back. “I think you would have grown to learn some things you thought you already knew about my husband. He was a really sweet guy.”

“I trust you… it’s just so hard to trust a guy who’s supposed to be your savior when you know his death toll is in the thousands.”

The fertile scoffed. “In the thousands? Where the hell did you hear that?”

Pete blushed. “Well… I mean, the Dandies kill hundreds of thousands of hunters every year. Combined with the other gangs and your allies, that’s so many lives lost- “

“The numbers are in the tens of thousands, not the hundreds of thousands. Last year 46,789 people were reported as being killed due to a vampire attack. Do you know how many vampires were killed by hunters last year?”

Pete shook his head.

“Under the Dandies protection, there were about 90,000. Worldwide, closer to about 250,000. That’s about 5% of our population every year. Vampire turning rates are around 2%. Vampire birth rates are less than half a percent. I run the largest vampire organization in the world. Every single day I have to wake up and look at those statistics, plan around those statistics, try and figure out a way for us to move on, to save lives,” Gabe sighed. “We don’t want to be fucking killed, Pete.”

“That’s 250,000 vampires that could have killed innocent lives.”

“Think about that number, Pete. Please. I want you to think about it real hard. It’s about five times as high as the number of humans killed by vampires. Do you know how many of them are children? Do you know how many of them have been alive since the Renaissance or the Persian Empire or the Ming Dynasty? Do you know the stories these people could tell? Stories long forgotten by the ages? Pete, think of that library upstairs. William told me you were eyeing it, don’t even try to hide it. It’s something… it was something he liked of you. He was always something of a bibliophile- according to Adam, you call them ‘nerds’ now,” He chuckled a little through the tears. “You’d never want to see those books up in flames. And yet, you kill with no hesitation. Have you ever stopped to think about the stories a vampire could tell you, if you had only sat down and listened?”

Pete was silent. The words ruminated in his head, slowly seeping into his mind. “I… I don’t know.”

Gabe sighed. “I don’t blame you. Trust me. I really don’t. I know the kind of brainwashing they do at the hunter facilities. They make you think we’re all the same. But we’re not. We’re people. We have lives. We have feelings. We sing, we dance, we have love in our hearts and stories to tell, and memories to make.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know. And I hope you realize how much they lied to you.” Gabe met his eyes, wiping his own with the handkerchief. Even in the faint light, Pete could see the initials ‘WEB’ embroidered on the corner.

“The handkerchief was his, wasn’t it? William’s, I mean.”

The fertile nodded. “Yeah. It was. He wasn’t the man you think he was. He’s far from the man they want you to believe he was. All he wanted to do… all he wanted to do was protect and save what he cared for most.”

Pete looked up from the stone floor where he was gazing away in shame. “And what exactly would that be?”

Gabe stood up with the bowl, heading towards the exit. “What do you think, Wentz?”

Pete closed his eyes, already knowing the answer. “It was you. You guys. His family.”

Gabe gave him a small, sad smile, leaving the room without a trace.

* * *

_“So, you guys are leaving tomorrow?” Ilana handed Gabe a dish to dry._

_“We’ve been here for almost two weeks. We hate to intrude,” Gabe smiled sheepishly._

_Diego shook his head. “Gabriel, this is your home too. This is your son’s home. Don’t feel like you have to leave.”_

_William sighed. “I wish we could stay forever, Dr. Saporta. We hate to say goodbye to our little boy.”_

_“I know. I do too,” he took Gabe’s hand and squeezed it softly. “He misses you, you know. He cries for his mama sometimes. He’s one of the only vampires in his school and I know that makes him nervous.”_

_“Papa, please. I can’t stay. You know how much I want to. How much I never want to let go of my little boy.”_

_“I know, Gabriel. I know.” He sighed. “He really adores that dog. I hadn’t seen him so happy in a long time.”_

_Gabe sighed, looking towards the room where his baby boy was sleeping. “I know. I just want him to- “_

_In an instant, their entire worlds shattered from underneath them. A child’s scream echoed through the halls, with a screech of wind that only meant one thing- a vampire had been slain._

_Gabe didn’t remember dropping the plate._

_He didn’t remember walking or running or teleporting to the bedroom._

_He didn’t remember William jumping out the window full of fury and rage towards the_ monsters _with the wooden stake._

_He didn’t remember his father and stepmother stepping away as the air around him grew cold and clammy, a penetrating chill emitted from a being of great magical strength._

_He didn’t remember the prayers he repeated as his baby’s tired body curled into him, dripping blood on the sheets as his little eyes turned glassy and his limbs went lifeless in his mother’s arms._

_He never forgot his little boy whispering “mama?”, the way his body trembled through the pain as Gabe desperately tried to hold him close, shielding from the damage that already couldn’t be undone. The look in William’s eyes that said ‘The bastards got away. I watched them get away with our baby boy’s little soul.’_

* * *

_The house was quiet the next few days. Gabe offered to help wash and dress the body, but Diego promised that he would serve as the Chevra Kaddisha and that he would protect his grandbaby. The funeral was small, barely enough men for a minyan, but the few vampires in the community, Jewish or otherwise, came to pay their respects. It could have been any of them._

_Some of the Dandies made the trip across the pond, risking their lives to pay respects. They knew the little boy would have done the same for them in a heartbeat._

_Gabe and William didn’t notice any of it. Their boy was gone. What could they do?_

* * *

Pete leaned back on the shelf bed, staring up at the ceiling. Gabe had started making it a daily habit to bring down soups and sandwiches every midnight for their lunch, sometimes bringing Evie, sometimes not. Yesterday, he brought down a gift, one that Pete nearly dropped in the puddle at his feet. It was a first edition copy of _The Sun Also Rises_ , title page signed “To William and Gabriel- I hope you do enjoy. -E” Pete spent a fair share of time on that page alone, hands shaking as he read the story he had read before.

Today Gabe was wearing a grey sweater with khakis and a wristwatch Pete had never seen before. “It was William’s, but Evie’s too young for me to pass it down to her yet. Thought I might as well get some use out of it,” The man shrugged, passing Pete in some tomato soup.

Pete sat back up, grabbing the mug and plopping back down on his cot. “Thanks. Did you make this yourself?”

Gabe laughed. “Sure did open the Campbell’s can and heat it up. Added a little blood too, just for a kick. All humanely sourced, I promise.”

Pete took a sip, smiling as he did so. “Still tastes great.”

“Can’t really go wrong with it, can you?” Gabe cracked a smiled too, readjusting his sweater. “I have something kind of big to discuss with you today.”

Pete raised an eyebrow. “What is it? Are you finally letting me out of here?”

“In a way… yes.”

Pete spit his soup immediately back into his mug. “What?”

Gabe sighed. “There are… certain rooms we have in the basement for when the Dandies come to visit. They’re not much. But they have a bed, a dresser – think your college dorm room. The permanent guys, they have a little more, but we’ve got plenty of places for short term guys. There’s no windows, and we’d have to lock the doors during the day. But it’s much nicer. There are communal showers you could use, we could get you new clothes… you wouldn’t have to submit to being one of us. But you’ve earned our trust in a way that I hope we’ve earned yours.”

Pete bit his lip. “Are you serious?”

“Remember the bag you came in with? The one that had keys, a spare change of clothes and some extra batteries?”

Pete nodded.

“It’s waiting for you in your room.”

“You’re not joking? I seriously can get out of here?” The look of pure joy on Pete’s face was something Gabe wished he could savor for a long time.

“Yeah. We… we trust you, Pete. And we think this is the best way to prove that maybe we aren’t the horrible monsters that you make us out to be.”

Pete still couldn’t believe it. Gabe’s explanations were still bouncing around in his head, and he spent a lot of time reflecting on his new revelations. His world was being turned upside down, and he wasn’t sure what the best course of action would be. “Can I think it over for tomorrow?”

Gabe chuckled. “Of course. Same time, same place?”

“Duh. I’m not going anywhere. Not until tomorrow, anyway.” He teased, and Gabe beamed a little.

“Do you want more blood. I put some in the soup, but if you – “

“I think I’m good. Thanks though. I really appreciate the offer,” Pete looked down at the swirling mug, heart pounding in his chest. “I do have something to ask. I… It’s one final thing we talked about in my hunting pack, and I know it sounds bogus and insane, I just…”

“What?”

“I need to get this off my chest.”

Gabe nodded. “Just ask me. You have nothing to lose.”

Pete took a deep breath, setting the mug down as his hands began to shake. “Someone mentioned once the name of a kid. They said he had some connection. I just want to know the story.”

Gabe’s face seemed less cheerful, but still stoic and pleasant. “What was his name.”

“They… they said his name is Adrian.”

As soon as the word left his lips, the room temperature dropped twenty degrees. The hairs on the back of Pete’s neck stood up as Gabe’s face went ashy and pale. He swallowed hard, eyes fluttering a little.

“Gabe? Gabe, what’s wrong, are you okay- “

“Who told you about my son?” Gabe’s voice was faint and cold. His soft eyes were brimmed with tears, heartbreak evident on his face.

“One of my colleagues had found something about it. I didn’t know, I swear, I wouldn’t have said… I wouldn’t have said anything if I had known.”

Gabe stood up slowly, shadows obscuring his face. Pete felt impossibly small in the looming shadow of the freezing man. Gabe walked slowly, one foot in front of each other, and let the door close behind him. Unlike last time, the cold didn’t dissipate. It lingered in the air, seeping its way down Pete’s spine, chilling him to the bone. He felt suffocated in the dry air, once cavernous room now claustrophobic and confining. He felt frozen in time, unable to move, unable to speak, thoughts pounding around inside his head, heart racing.

It was nearly sunrise when Gabe reappeared, wrapped tightly in the cloak that once belonged to his husband. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, and he clutched a little book tightly in his hands.

“Gabe, I- “ Pete choked to get words out, but the older man put up his hand, motioning for him to say nothing more.

“You want to hear about my baby? I’ll tell you about my baby,” His voice was barely above a whisper, hoarse and cracked from crying. He gently opened the book, staring at the front page for a few seconds, wiping another flood of tears from his eyes with the handkerchief. He slowly flipped the book towards Pete, revealing a small black and white photo.

Pete felt his body lighten, as if the force holding him in his place on the cot had lifted. He walked slowly over to the bars, getting a good look at the image in the photo album. There was a little boy, no older than three or four years old, sitting on William’s lap. William was holding the child close, resting his head on Gabe’s shoulder. They both looked so young, so happy, impeccably perfect. William wasn’t wearing his signature gloves, Gabe was comfortable in an effeminate sweater, and the child looked comfortable curled in his father’s arms. “Is that him?”

Gabe nodded slowly, taking the photo album back, lingering on it for a moment, before setting it aside. “We were so happy. Look at us. William’s hand looks so bare without those gloves…” He sighed, playing with his wedding ring as he closed his eyes. “That was September 1954. William’s father died a month later. We… we didn’t want our baby boy to be in harm’s way. We knew… “ Gabe took a moment to collect himself, wiping his eyes again.

“Our job is dangerous, Pete. There’s a reason that there isn’t a single person who lives outside of this house who isn’t related to me that knows my daughter exists. Her very relation to me is a threat to her safety. No child deserves that. When Adrian was born in ’51, we thought stuff was changing. Antisemitism was at an all-time low, my father was even discussing moving to Israel before all of the war broke out over there. Vampires were tolerated better back then, things seemed like they were looking up… I know they really weren’t, but for god’s sake, Pete, I was hopeful. I thought that for once in my goddamn life I could have hope for the future. William and I could live here with our two and a half babies and our picket fence lifestyle and we could be _happy_. Do you know how hard it is to live a life where your only hope is that maybe this time, maybe one goddamn time you’ll be happy?” The look of anguish on Gabe’s face was heartbreaking. He looked back at the photo, collecting himself a little, and carried on.

“When William’s father died, we knew it wouldn’t be safe for him here. We knew that our baby boy needed to be somewhere he could be safe. So he moved in with my parents. They loved him and he loved them. He was adorable. He went to Hebrew school, always said his prayers, helped his bubbe in the kitchen, played with his best friend- Pete, he was an angel. Even better, he was my angel. He was my perfect little boy. Pete, he was perfect,” Gabe sniffled, wiping his eyes again.

“Gabe…” Pete wanted to reach for his hand, but he didn’t want to intrude. Instead, he swallowed the lump in his throat and asked what needed to be asked. “What happened?”

“What the fuck do you think happened?” Gabe snapped. “You guys fucking happened. He was asleep in his bedroom at my dad’s house when a bunch of teenagers who decided to try hunting to make a couple quick bucks before school smashed his bedroom window and killed him in his sleep. He was nine years old. We got nine damn years with my baby boy before they… they…” Gabe’s voice trailed off, misery cracking in his throat. “Do you know what it’s like to hold your son in your arms as his bloody body goes limp? Do you know how it feels to hear your son call for you with his dying breath? You have no idea what it’s like to hope that half a century later, you holding his tiny body brought him even the slightest bit of peace as he died, do you? Pete, my son was murdered. My baby died in my arms and there wasn’t anything I could have done about it.” He sniffled, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

“I’m so, so sorry- “

“Pete, all William ever wanted to do was protect his son. All he wanted to do was make sure no child ever had to die from existing. We… we still don’t know if the boys were ever caught. We don’t know if they hated him because he was a vampire who was also a Jew, or because he was a Jew who was also a vampire, but all we know is that they killed a little boy without an ounce of shame,” Gabe had given up on wiping the tears, letting them fall freely now. “William wanted to save another mother from that grief. He wanted to save another person’s life, even if that mean killing every single hunter on this godforsaken planet.” He sniffled, pulling the cloak closer around him. “You may have not agreed with his methods. You may have not wanted to support him in killing them all. But he wanted to protect the lives of every innocent child he knew would die otherwise. And you killed him for it.”

Pete was silent, heart racing. “Gabe… I don’t know how to say it- “

“I don’t want an apology. I don’t want your sympathy. Pete, I’ve moved long past that.” Gabe sniffled. “You asked a question. I told you the truth. You didn’t like the answer. I don’t care. It was the truth, take it or leave it. But I won’t mince words to spare the feelings of a ‘hunter’ like yourself.” He stood up, wiping his eyes one last time. They both sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the drip of water in the back of Pete’s cell. Gabe’s eyes were closed, head tilted back as tears ran down his face, rocking himself just the slightest bit. His leg shook a little, a rhythmic tapping on the floor that echoes in Pete’s head. What else was there even to say?

“I wish I had known.”

“I wish you didn’t have to know. I wish it didn’t take me breaking down in tears over the loss of my child to make you see my side,” He shook his head, running his fingers along the hem of his shirt. “But I don’t hate you. I don’t blame you. They brain washed you. They convinced you that we had nothing left to live for. They broke us, they attacked us, they depersonalized us. They acted as if the fact that we weren’t human made us not people.”

“I shouldn’t have believed them,” Pete kicked a rock at his foot. “They… they let me believe all that shit… that you were all bloodthirsty murderers with no souls, that…”

“They never even considered that you were one of them. You were one of the ‘good ones’, weren’t you? You were an exception. Except you weren’t. Pete, I… I know how hard this has to be for you. But you can’t let that- “

“I want to join the Dandies, Gabe.” The words tumbled out of Pete’s mouth before he could even properly comprehend them.

Gabe seemed a little shocked too. “I… I’ll get back to you on that, okay, Pete?”

Pete nodded. “Yeah… that was a lot… I’m sorry. But I believe it.”

“I know,” he looked back down at him, eyes drifting around the space. He took another deafening minute or so to compose himself, processing the trauma that had only just resurfaced. Pete could see it in his eyes. Gabe wasn’t going to be alright for a while. “I’ll have the room ready for you tomorrow, okay?”

“Gabe?”

Gabe turned back around from where he had made motion to leave. “Yeah?”

“I still don’t know if I support everything William did.”

Gabe smiled through tight lips, clutching his handkerchief in his hand. “You don’t have to. You never had to. You just have to understand.”

* * *

_It was early in the morning when William came in. Gabe hadn’t left the house in seven days. He hadn’t showered hadn’t shaved- he promised it was ritual, but everyone saw him spiraling. His father and stepmother were preparing to clean up after Shiva, removing the cloth from the mirrors, deciding where to give the tzedakah donations, moving the food brought over to the freezer. Gabe wasn’t ready to finish mourning. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye._

_William walked slowly, leaning against the wall. His right leg twisted at an angle, and his hand left a bloody trail along the wall._

_When Ilana saw him, she nearly screamed. Diego forced him onto the bed, trying to bandage his mauled, bleeding hand. Gabe could barely look at him. “Bilvy, baby-“_

_“I’m going to heal, Gabey. I’m fine, Gabey. Don’t worry about me,” he smiled, unsettling look in his eyes. “I did it.”_

_Gabe shook his head, running his thumb along the edge of the black ribbon pinned to his shirt. “What did you do, Bilvy? William, Bill, what on earth did you do?”_

_William grinned a sickening grin and snapped his fingers with his clean hand, turning the radio on. “Fifty vampire hunters found murdered in Atlantic City headquarters. The bloodshed here is unbelievable, not a single person left alive. We’ve seen attacks like this before, but never to this scale. This was a massacre. The attack is being attributed to William Beckett, the infamous leader of the Dandies-“_

_“Bilvy, what did you do?” Gabe was shaking now. The air was cold again, and Diego retreated to working on William’s dislocated, shattered leg._

_“They’re not killing anyone else’s baby, Gabey. No one else is going to lose their baby to a hunter again. I did this for our baby, Gabe.” William muttered, eyes wild with the taste of blood._

_“Oh, William,” Gabe shook his head, heart sinking into the pit of his stomach. “What did you do?”_

* * *

“So,” Mike took a sip of his lemonade, looking up at Ryan. “Let me get this straight. The night before William died, he pulled you aside and told you that he was planning on retiring and was leaving the Dandies to you and Brendon so that he and Gabe could live their happily ever after?”

Ryan sighed, shaking his head. “It sounds crazy, I know, but it’s true.”

“No, I believe you dude,” Mike shook his head. “Irony sure is a stubborn bitch, ain’t it.”

He nodded, biting his lip. “I feel horrible. He was so close to everything he ever wanted- “

“And that bastard took it from him. I hear you.”

Ryan perked up. “You… you don’t like Pete?”

“I don’t get why Gabe’s been keeping him around. He’s fine on his own, I guess, but he keeps making Gabe cry. I hate seeing him cry, dude. I ain’t sensitive for shit, but it sure hurts to see it.”

“He wants him to become a Dandy too. What the fuck?”

Mike grinned. “You don’t like him either?”

“I don’t… mind him. Like we all know someone who’s killed someone, none of us are innocent,” Ryan sighed. “He just acts like he’s the victim constantly, how the hell is he the victim in this situation? He _killed_ Gabe’s husband, and Gabe acts as if he’s any old guy who just lost his sense of purpose.”

“It takes a lot of guts to stare the man who killed your husband in the face. But it takes something else to sit down with him for a game of checkers.”

“I don’t know if he’s brilliant or stupid or both,” Ryan shook his head. “I trust Gabe. And I know he’s making the right decisions for the Dandies and for his child. But he needs to take a deep breath sometimes and think about how this is going to affect the rest of us.” They both nodded, jumping out of their seats when someone behind them knocked on the glass doors of the balcony. “Brendon – “

“Can I join you guys?”

Mike shrugged and Ryan opened the door for him. “We were just talking about… you know. The whole Wentz situation.”

Brendon sighed. “I know, I know. I… I think Gabe’s right and Pete’s a good guy corrupted by the bad guys. But he’s still… one sob story shouldn’t be all it takes for him to be trusted completely, not when all it took was one propaganda piece to sway him into joining a hunting organization.”

“I know Gabe’s gone soft, not that it’s a bad thing. He’s a new mother grieving the loss of his love of nine decades and relieving the death of his firstborn child. I just… “

Ryan sighed. “Mike, Gabe’s gone through so much more than that. So, so much more. He’s not soft, he’s just… “

“He’s a person going through grief, grief that has compounded over the last century of life and loss.”

“I want to let him make mistakes, but not mistakes that involve a possible _hunter_ joining the group on such an intimate level.” Mike finished off his lemonade, staring out at the courtyard. “All Gabe fucking wanted was to bury William next to Adrian at their family plot. And the hunters didn’t even let him have that. What the fuck?”

“They’re a ruthless killing machine. They don’t see us as people. We know that,” Brendon groaned. “Gabe wants to help Pete see the errors of his ways. He’s making progress. He actually listens to what I have to say, you know?”

“Bren, he yells at you for nothing,” Ryan leaned back in the deck chair, closing his eyes.

“He’s not good at it. But he’s learning. When he says something wrong, I correct him, and he listens. I can see him going back to Chicago with Butcher in a few months to help train freshly turned punks around town, once the whole education and assessment thing is complete. He’s a strong fighter and we want him on our side. William wanted him on our side. He turned him for a reason.”

Ryan sighed. “Its that that hurts the most. He saw so much potential in him, it was astounding. I just… if he wasn’t distracted that night, he would still be here right now.”

“You can’t blame yourself, Ryan.”

“Shut up, Brendon, you weren’t even there that night!” Ryan snapped. “He was so fucking excited, okay? He was so ready to call it quits. It… It was going to be his last appearance before retirement. He was going to put on a goddamn fucking show. He was going to prance around and taunt the hunters and then head back to the house in Chicago and tell his husband that he was coming home. He was supposed to go home, Brendon. Once Evie was born, they would make their address. There would be three or so months of only intraorganizational communication and then one final public announcement where they officially stepped down. It was- “

“It was supposed to be perfect,” Brendon sighed. “I know. We’ve been over this a hundred times, but none of it is going to bring him back – “

“You think I can help it?”

Mike shook his head. “Listen man, I know. It’s going to hurt like a fucking bitch. It’s going to sting like a bee. But you need to tell Gabe- “

“How?”

“Just talk to him. He needs to know.”

“The world is a different place than it was five months ago. You think we could handle a turned vampire leading the largest vampire organization in the world.”

“You need to be honest with yourself, Ryan. Is this because you’re worried about Gabe? Or because you’re worried about yourself,” Mike stood up slowly, shaking his head. “I won’t judge you for either one. But you have to put it in perspective. And a good leader needs to learn how to come to terms with the hard truth.” He grabbed his lemonade glass, carrying it back inside. “I’m going to clean the brat’s room. Want to help?”

“Are you talking about Gabe’s baby, or are you talking about miss Genevieve?”

Mike smirked. “Don’t let the boss hear that one.”

“I ain’t that dumb, Carden. I’ll see you down there.” Brendon smiled, taking Ryan’s hand gently. “I know how hard this is on you. It can’t be easy. But none of us wanted this, especially not William. But he trusted you. He trusted you to take his place, whether it was two months ago, or yesterday, or two years from now.”

Ryan nodded numbly. “I love you Brendon.”

“I love you too,” He sighed, helping him up. “And I trust William’s choice in choosing you to lead. I trust you.”

He squeezed his hand and followed him inside, closing the balcony door behind them.

* * *

“So, Adam, explain how this all works again?”

Adam sighed, shaking his head. “You type a message into this box. Just like you’d type using a word processor. This is basically just a fancy word processor. You learned how to use those, right?”

Gabe nodded. “I know what a computer is, idiot. I’m old, not incompetent.”

The younger vampire rolled his eyes. “Whatever grandpa,” He turned back to the laptop screen, moving the mouse. “So you type in the box like you’d write a letter to be printed out and sent.”

“I can type anything I want?”

Sisky nodded. “Anything.”

“How much does it cost for each line?”

“It doesn’t. That’s the great thing. We pay to get the internet, so we can stay on top of things like vampire communities in other places, and so you can contact other people through those video announcements you used to contract out through the television companies. The press release you did a few weeks ago was put out through the internet.”

“Wait… really?” Gabe looked shocked. “Can you show me how you did that?”

“Maybe later, Gabe. Let’s finish e-mail first, then I’ll introduce you to YouTube.”

“You-what?”

“It’s this video platform that was just released a few years ago, it’s – never mind. Its like a place where people can upload their own movies to the internet for everyone to see. I’ll explain later.” He chuckled, watching as Gabe pecked slowly at the keys. “Where’s the letter your brother sent?” Gabe handed him the letter, while Sisky skimmed it for the address. “Was all your handwriting this bad back then?”

“No, just ours. We grew up writing right-left, so having to learn how to write left-right made sure all of us had pretty shitty handwriting once we graduated Hebrew school with one or two English classes under our belt.” Gabe shrugged.

“Can I read what you got so far?”

“Sure.”

Sisky leaned over looking at the screen. “’Dearest Ricardo.’ Okay, not a bad start. You can be a little less formal, if you want. And even though you can make it as long as you want, you can also make it pretty short if you want. You can send as many of these as you want, nothing else needed.”

“Really?”

Adam nodded. “You could just say ‘Hey Ricky, I’m trying this out now. Thanks for the letter! Love Gabe.’ And he’d probably love that.”

Gabe grinned, individually backspacing every character he had just typed and went for Adam’s less serious approach. “What do I do now?”

“Well, you need to put a subject in the heading.”

“A what?”

“Title it. You know what? Just type something like ‘Greetings from your brother.’ He’ll love that.” After a painstaking minute, Gabe had done so. “Now you need to type in his email address.”

“Is this it?”

“No, that’s your email address. You need to have an email to send one.”

“Do I have one?”

“Yes, you’re [gbeckett94@live.com](mailto:gbeckett94@live.com).”

“What’s his?”

“It’s [rickyrockyroad@aol.com](mailto:rickyrockyroad@aol.com). You need to type it in- you know what, I’ll just do it,” he sighed, shaking his head. He grabbed the keyboard, typing in the address. “All good?”

Gabe nodded, grinning ear to ear.

“Now press the ‘send’ button and you’re good to go.”

Gabe clicked it, eyes going wide as it returned to the empty inbox. “What now?”

“You wait for a response. You can go away, it’ll still be there when you come back.”

“Can I change Evie’s diaper?’

Sisky shrugged. “Why the hell not?”

Gabe left, returning with his baby. When he did, there was a little red icon on his screen. “He sent me a reply!”

Adam grinned. “Are you going to open it?”

“How do I- “

“Click on it. Okay?”

Gabe did.

‘Hey Gabe!

Great to hear from you, sorry about mom dropping by and all.

I’m doing techy stuff for work, so I check this email pretty often. Hope we can communicate more this way.

Thanks :)

Ricardo Saporta’

“He said he wants to email me again some time!”

“You can do it again right now,” Adam rolled his eyes. “If you click the little arrow button in the corner, you don’t have to type in the address each time. It would probably work better.”

“Where?”

“Here, right next to where it says reply- Gabe, I’ll take the baby, you focus on typing. Press the button to reply and then hit send when you’re finished.” Adam was not expecting the much taller man to give him a hug.

“Thank you so much, Adam. Thank you.”

Adam hugged him back, resting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re welcome, Gabe. Thank you.”

* * *

Pete kicked his legs a little, sitting down on the bed in shock. “This is mine?”

Gabe chuckled. “Well, actually it’s mine, according to the will and all that. But for now, yeah. We’re going to keep a lock on the door at all times, but you’ve got more space in here, right?”

“Yeah… dude, I feel awful about everything I said. For fucks sake dude, there’s no fucking way in hell I can even begin to think about making it up to you, is there?”

“Making what up to me?”

“Killing your husband and all that,” Pete flopped back on the bed, shaking his head. “Fuck dude, like, I killed your husband- “

“Pete you killed my husband five months ago. You killed my husband before you knew our daughter existed, much less our son.” Gabe flipped through one of the books on the shelf. The room was small and clean, plain drywall with beige paint, a bookshelf, a bed, and a dresser. Pete’s backpack was currently thrown on top of the dresser. He had yet to go through the contents. “You killed a man without knowing his life or his backstory. If you only feel bad once you learn something about him that makes whatever you killed him for more palatable to you, I don’t want your sympathy.” He sighed, putting the book back down. “I put your clothes in the dresser. The other Dandies aren’t too keen on you staying here. They… they don’t like you. I’m unsure how I feel myself. But I’m giving you a chance. You deserve a chance.”

Pete nodded. “I’m… I don’t know what to do besides say that I’m sorry. Fuck, Gabe I don’t even know what to do.”

“My son deserved a chance. William deserved… William gave you a chance and you threw it out. It took you two fucking months to go from murdering me in cold blood to groveling at my feet. William was willing to give you those two months. He was willing to give you years. This should have been your room long ago,” he sighed. “You spent longer learning how to kill vampires than it took you to learn why vampires should be allowed to live.”

“I used to be a major asshole, okay? I said it. I don’t deserve your pity.”

“You’re not getting my pity,” Gabe leaned back against the wall. “You’re getting a second chance. Don’t fuck this up.” Pete bit his lip, watching as Gabe left. “Dinner is at 4. I’ll let you out then. Please don’t fuck this up.”

* * *

Pete leaned back on the bumpy mattress, closing his eyes. He had changed his clothes for the first time in months, wiping down his face with the tissues and the water bottle Gabe had left on the dresser. He felt like a new man. His hair and beard were overgrown and tangled, having been unable to wash or brush either of them since his capture. The fried, straightened ends stood out against the naturally curly roots, which felt healthier than it had in years. He grabbed his backpack, pulling out the deodorant and a small pocketknife from an inside pocket. He put on the deodorant, then started hacking away at the fried ends. He doubted he’d be given access to a hair straightener for months, so he’d have to make do with what he had. He thought back to his high school routine, wishing he had a mirror in the meantime so that maybe his attempt to salvage the hair he had left would be neater as he tried his best to lock his hair into dreads. After about an hour of playing with his clumped locks, he was satisfied. He looked in the dark screen of his dead mp3 player as a mirror, not unhappy with the results. All of his electronics were dead, and he had neglected to bring any charging cords with him. He expected the venture to last a few hours, at most. Boy, was he mistaken.

It was 3:50 when the deadbolt was unlatched, and Brendon stuck his head in. “Hey, asshole. Dinner in ten minutes. Sunrise is at 5:15, so you know.”

Pete nodded, standing up and following Brendon out to the common area where he had met Mike previously. The vampires in the room went quiet at his arrival, all eyes on him. He looked up at Brendon, the least intimidating one in the room. “Is there anywhere I can use the bathroom?”

One of the other vampires sneered, a tattooed man with wild hair that Pete vaguely recognized. “Next to the dungeon.”

Pete nodded, getting a move on. To his dismay, the room was a community bath area, where one vampire was already fixing himself up in the mirror. The man turned to look at him, his nose turned up in disgust. “Are you going to piss, or are you just going to stare?”

He slunk into a stall, despite there being a couple urinals on the left side of the room and relieved himself. The man was still applying eyeliner in the bathroom mirror when Pete came out to wash his hands. Pete couldn’t help but stare at the man while he washed his hands, going as far as rinsing off his face with actual soap for the first time in months. If vampires were as biologically gross as humans, he would have been disgusting by now.

The other vampire watched as he fixed his hair in the mirror, twisting the messy dreads together one final time before dinner. Pete looked up at him, a sheepish smile on his face. “Hey.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m fixing my hair, my ma’s afro-Jamaican so- “

“No. I meant what are you doing _here_ ,” The vampire bared his fangs a little, causing Pete to gulp.

“I… Brendon got me for dinner, Gabe’s request,” Pete’s voice wavered as the other vampire sighed.

“Of course he did, why wouldn’t he?” He put his hand against his temple, shaking his head. “Gabe’s really fucking losing it, isn’t he?”

“What do you mean?”

“Gabe can’t stop torturing himself. Ever since you showed up here, he’s relapsed back into his grief again and again. I don’t think you understand, Pete, just how much _you_ are hurting him. Pete – “

“He’s the one that kept talking to me, I didn’t ask him to – “

“He’s making excuses for you, Pete. He’s acting like if you change your ways and repent everything you did and save yourself, then it will bring William back. Do you realize how unhealthy that is?”

“I – “

“I was there the night Bilvy died, Pete. I saw you drive the stake into his heart without a shred of mercy. It was some sick fantasy come true for you, I know.” The man met his gaze in the mirror. “I watched you kill him, Pete. No amount of forgiveness on Gabe’s part is ever going to get Genevieve her father back. It won’t bring back Adrian, or William’s parents, or his siblings. None of it will ever return what we lost. And you?” He turned to stare Pete dead in the eyes. “You’ll never be anything but a hunter, and you know it.”

Pete gulped as the man left the room, silent footsteps on the grimy tile floors.

* * *

Pete watched everyone file in around the table, watching as only one chair remained. At around 4:05, Pete heard the unmistakable click of Gabe’s dress shoes on the concrete leading into the living area. “It smells amazing in here, Alex,” Gabe smiled, sitting down at the last remaining seat. He was wearing a black turtleneck with slacks and a long black cape that hung around his shoulders. It brought a stark contrast to the pink and purple scarf tied around his torso, holding his child close to his chest.

The vampire Pete assumed was Alex got up and headed into the kitchen, returning with a large red pot that he set down in the middle of the table. “Cambodian chicken and rice soup. I learned the recipe a few years ago.” He smiled, carrying a stack of bowls in from the kitchen. “You’re going to love it, it’s got ginger in it, might help with your dust allergies.”

Gabe smiled, standing to help him serve out the dishes, when he noticed Pete slumped against a wall. “Take a seat, Wentz.”

“Where, I- “

“Folding chairs by the couch. There’s a spot down there between Adam and Ryan,” Gabe gestured to an empty area between the brown-haired man from the bathroom, and a geeky looking kid with frizzy blond curls that obscured most of his face. He dragged the folding chair in between them, sitting down to a bowl of hot soup being thrust in front of him, silverware haphazardly tossed in his direction. He waited until everyone else had started eating their soup before digging in himself. It was good, a little brothy, but it was better than anything he had had in months.

The rest of the Dandies actively avoided looking at him, which he supposed was better than the expected stares and glares, but instead left him with a feeling of disconnect. Nearly everyone but Pete was on their second bowl of soup when Gabe cleared his throat. “Everyone, I see we’ve all met Pete,” The vampires all nodded slowly, and Pete wanted to die in a hole. “Pete do you know everyone?”

He shook his head, heart racing out of his chest. He had left his pills in his room, stupid, _stupid_ mistake. “No.”

“Well then,” He stood up, looking to the left of him, going clockwise around the table. “This is Alejandro, Andrew- he’s our Chicago guy, you might know him,” Pete placed him as the tattooed guy from earlier. “Adam Siska, a.k.a. Sisky, Ryan, you know Brendon, and next to me here is Mike. You know Mike too, right?”

Pete nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat.

Mike coughed a little, looking up at Gabe. “What was all the dust you were kicking up earlier from?”

Gabe blushed a little, poking around his bowl. “Oh, nothing, just paperwork. I had to dig up some files, finish some of the stuff with the will and… you know. Stuff like that.” Mike gripped his hand as Gabe’s got shaky.

“Sorry I asked man,” Mike met his eyes, and Gabe relaxed a little.

“It’s no big deal, dude, we just had to forward the information to a few lawyers and the cemetery people in Jersey and… I’d just been postponing it for a lot longer than I should have- “

“I know. It’s okay.”

Gabe nodded, placing a hand on his sleeping baby’s back. “Thank you, Mike.”

Mike gave another small nod of approval, returning to his soup, and Pete felt himself slump further into his chair. Thankfully, the rest of the Dandies had finished their meals within the half hour, and he was not the first to set his bowl in the kitchen sink. Ryan gave him an icy glare as he slunk back to the room he considered his own, letting the door close with a silent thud. The clock on the wall, which previously neglected to bother him, now resonated in his ears with the deafening ticking of the seconds hand. About two minutes exactly after Pete went in, he heard the deadbolt shut behind him. It may have been nicer than the dingy cell across the basement, but there was no shred of doubt in Pete’s mind- this was just as much a prison as the last one.

* * *

“We can’t just do nothing, Joe,” Patrick groaned, leaning back on the couch, “He said he was going to send another letter soon, right?”

“How soon is soon?”

“It’s been a week!”

Joe sighed. “They probably aren’t letting him get access to paper, or an envelope- hell, even a writing light. It was disgusting in there.”

“Then it means we have to get him out as soon as we can, Joe, we don’t have any time to waste,” Patrick was getting antsy, hands shaking as he spoke. “He’s probably running low on pills, he probably has no idea how to even take care of himself – “

“Calm down, ‘Mother hen’, we’ll think up something,” Joe closed his eyes, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. “If only we knew what Pete knows.”

“Get him a fucking walkie talkie or something, then? Another sidekick? Joe, time is of the essence and you know it just as well as I do. We can’t wait any longer- “

“Yes. Patrick, we can, and we have to. What are we going to do if we don’t? Get there only to learn they have tracking signals on us and Pete’s gone? Only to learn that they transferred power to a man on the other side of the globe?”

Patrick sighed. “One week. We give it- “

“Two weeks. Give Pete two weeks to get his shit together. Then we strike.”

“What do you mean, strike?” Patrick looked up. “He’s been fine for long enough in there already, you said it yourself. If something goes wrong, they’ll kill him without mercy, and that’s hunter blood on our hands.”

“They’re blood thirsty killers, remember? Literally! Blood. Thirsty. They’ll kill him if we do nothing and they’ll kill him if we do something. We need two weeks to make sure he’s exhausted all options to contact us. If he can’t do that, we know what we need to do. If he can do that, then we know exactly what we need to do to get him the fuck out of there.” Joe sighed. “I know you want to save him, Patrick. We all do. None of us want him dead. Which is why after two weeks, preferably with more intel, we make one clean attack that involves burning that shit to the ground.”

* * *

Patrick rolled over, checking the alarm clock on his bedside table. He groaned, realizing it was almost noon, and kicking his feet over the side of the bed. His room was pretty big for their complex, but he wasn’t used to sleeping in it alone. Pete’s filing cabinet was on the floor underneath the curtain covering up the crack in the cement walls. His ‘bed’ was untouched, laying vacant since the night he left nearly three months ago. Pete had two days to respond before Joe and Andy basically considered him a POW and cast him aside as a casualty. He was more than just that to Patrick, he always would be. He rubbed his eyes, feeling himself drawn to the makeshift casket, beckoning him out of bed. Beckett and his dame probably had some luxury caskets, the ones you see in funeral home showcases, not a dusty old filing cabinet. “Fuckin Dandies,” he scoffed, getting out of bed to open the cabinet.

It looked no different than when Patrick had last seen it, but the vacancy was hard to bear. He man dropped to his knees, taking Pete’s old bedsheet in his hand. He felt himself drawn to it, lifting it up to smell, the musk enticing him. He knew it was wrong, but it felt so right. It was almost as if Pete were there in his arms, and not locked in a creepy dungeon thousands of miles away. He held the used sheet to his face for a few minutes, before shamefully stuffing it away. Rooting through Pete’s locker, he found his journal, the vacant spot where Pete’s passport would be, and finally, William Beckett’s wedding ring. He rolled it around in his hand for a few minutes, debating trying it on, before placing it back in the locker with a shudder. He may have a little bit of a crush on a vampire, but he wasn’t trying on the wedding ring of a serial killer.

He closed up Pete’s cabinet, stretching his arms above his head and heading out to the common area. From the looks of it, Joe and Andy were either still asleep, or out of the compound, and from the missing keys and grocery list, he assumed the latter. He made himself a slice of toast, before sitting down in front of the laptop to analyze any new data from headquarters. When the team cell phone began to ring, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Only two people had that number, the people in his hunting squadron, and their boss, and their boss only called at night during raids. After a moment of shock, he realized Joe or Andy probably forgot if they had any milk left. He swiped it up, smiling as he kicked back in the chair. “It’s Patrick, what’s up?”

“Patrick- “ The voice at the other end of the line was raspy, fear echoing in the rapid paced words. “Patrick, I have information- “

Patrick’s jaw dropped to the floor, hand shaking in disbelief. “Pete?”

“There’s no time to explain, I promise, you need to take in everything I say carefully. If you’re doing a raid, make sure to do it at night, that’s when they’re not used to human attackers, and uh… you need to bring as few people as possible. The fewer cars, the better. And no fire, the smoke causes alarm. Plus there’s important documents in here,” Pete sounded terrified, and Patrick’s heart raced for him.

“How are you calling? Did you find out, what about Adrian?“

“I found a charger for my phone, believe me, I called as soon as I could, Adrian’s not a threat, Patrick, take note of everything I said, believe me, we can win this. I only have a few minutes left.”

“It’s okay Pete,” Patrick felt the tears coming to rise in his throat. “Pete, I’ve missed you so much.”

“I miss you too, I’ve gotta go now, bye,” Pete hung up, leaving Patrick dumbfounded, hand still shaking and sweaty. He grabbed a notepad as soon as he composed himself, copying down everything Pete said. Some of it sounded bizarre and convoluted, but Pete seemed sure, if not a little anxious. He reread over the list, making sure he forgot nothing. Pete wouldn’t ever let him down, Pete cared for him, he needed him, right?

When Joe and Andy got home with the groceries, Patrick looked like he was going to faint. “Patrick? Dude, what’s wrong- “

“Pete called,” He choked out, placing the list in front of them on the table. “I think we know our plan of attack.”

* * *

Pete closed his phone slowly, scuffing his shoe against the carpet floor. He felt horrible for sabotaging his old team’s potential hunt, but he couldn’t. Gabe and the Dandies needed the protection they could get from a horribly botched attack. He knew he couldn’t protect Gabe in any other way, it felt ridiculous, but he felt a certain responsibility to mislead his old best friends. A weird part of him ached inside as he got up to pace the floor, looking up at the plaster ceiling tiles above. It felt so boring, exactly as Gabe described it being akin to a dorm room. The simplicity was nice, but he silently wished he had some access to decorations. He wasn’t going to push it though, not with everyone in the Dandies’ close circle hating his guts. It was nearly one in the afternoon when he heard a harsh knock on the door. “Who is it?”

“It’s Brendon. I heard you talking dude, can I come in?”

Pete groaned, knowing he had no choice but to let him in. “Yeah, you’re the one with the key.”

Brendon unlocked the door, letting himself in. “Thanks, Wentz. Who were you talking to?”

Pete sighed. “No one, just myself.”

Brendon plopped down on the mattress, kicking up his leg over his knee. “You know what? I don’t believe you for a second.”

Pete bit his lip, trying to avoid eye contact. “Oh yeah? Why not?”

“You stutter when you’re nervous. So did William,” Brendon leaned back, closing his eyes. “This mattress is a piece of shit.”

Pete chuckled. “Tell me about it.” Brendon wasn’t amused, and Pete bit his lip once again, this time embarrassment compounding. “So, uh, William had a stutter?’’

“Since he was a really little kid. Gabe found it adorable,” Brendon explained, picking at his nails while he spoke. “Not that you even cared enough to listen.”

“I care enough now.”

“Sure, now that he’s been dead since December. Good going there,” Brendon picked up the cellphone on the dresser, watching as it made Pete jump. A wicked smile spread across his face. “Where did you find a charger for this?”

Pete felt his heart rise in his throat. He reached into his pocket, only to find the once rattling tin of pills uncomfortably silent. His worst fears were true- he had run out. “Um… uh… with the computer? After my shower while you were watching a movie? I just- “

“Who did you call, Pete?” Brendon didn’t seem worried, more just casual. “I mean, we know you’ve been in contact with your precious little hunter friends. You think that sweet little note to your mommy got swept under the rug that easily?”

He froze. “I… I…”

“I won’t tell Gabe what you told them, Pete, I promise.”

“You… you swear? Because you can’t, I swear, you can’t, “ Pete’s eyes were wide, unsure of whether to take Brendon’s olive branch with blind faith or not.

“Only if you chill the fuck out. What’s the big deal?” Brendon seemed unbothered.

Pete took a deep breath, shaking out his hand. “Okay. So I told the guys that I was getting really, really good intel and then they expected that intel to use to attack and if I told them nothing they were going to burn this place to the ground so I might have possibly told them incrediblyinnacuratedirectionsforattacking?” Pete’s nearly passed out, not breathing once.

Brendon furrowed his brows, taking a moment to process it. “So… you basically told them how to attack in order to get caught?”

Pete nodded, near tears. “Please don’t tell Gabe, you can be mad, just don’t- “

“I can’t not tell him, he needs to keep his baby safe,” Brendon looked up at him suspiciously. “Unless you’re not actually allegiant to the Dandies after all and you’re just using this as a sick way of tricking us into thinking you’re giving them fake intel and Genevieve is going to die, the same way her father, and her brother, and – “

“No!” Pete was clearly distressed by this concept. “I promise, I told them to attack at night, not to bring anything to damage the building, don’t bring cars… It’ll only be three of them.”

“I need to tell Gabe – “

“You promised,” Pete felt like an asshole for that excuse, but it was true. “Please. Don’t let anyone know, and you can take them all out. Now you know what to expect.”

“Shouldn’t Gabe also know what to expect- “

“Brendon, I don’t want to see that baby hurt more than the next guy. But the hunters trust me. They’re friends. I can’t lose that.”

Brendon stood up. “I know. I… I might have to break your promise but having the hunters under our thumb may be for the best and I think Gabe would realize that.”

Pete let out a sigh of relief, leaning back against the wall, heartrate slowly dropping back to what a human would consider normal. “Thank you so fucking much, you don’t –“

“If _anything_ happens to my family, Wentz, you’re dead.”

Pete nodded, watching the vampire exit the door without another word.

* * *

Ryan looked up as Brendon crept back into their room. He set down the guitar, standing up off the couch. “Did your creepy eavesdropping scheme bear any fruit?”

Brendon grinned, locking the door behind them. “You know it. Get a kick of this. He’s basically – “

“I don’t want to hear your creepy shit, Brendon,” Ryan sighed, throwing his arms around Brendon’s shoulders, smashing his lips against his own. “I’ve been waiting for you for hours. Come on. We have a bed calling our name.”

Brendon blushed, letting his thumbs fumble with the latch on Ryan’s ridiculous 70’s belt he loved so much. Perhaps Pete’s secret was one that was supposed to stay hidden.

* * *

Ryan woke up groggy and exhausted. He and Brendon had been spending a lot more time together recently since he had taken to spying on Pete, and while Ryan certainly wasn’t complaining, he was beginning to be slightly curious about the secret Brendon had uncovered a week or so ago that was making him so uneasy. He had been anxious since that night, but not enough to spook Gabe. That could wait for later though. The sex the morning before had been more than enough to make up for it all, and he had much more pressing matters to worry about tonight. He opened his and Brendon’s closet, weeding through to find his old suit from the late 70s. Mike teased him for it sometimes, but he really did miss back then. He and Brendon had been vampires for nearly four decades, but it felt like for the first time, he could really, truly be himself, back in the late 60s, into the 70s. Who cared if his fashion reflected it in any capacity? Brendon still loved him 75 years later, and that’s what really mattered. He pulled out the suit he loved and hanging it on the hook. He pulled on his robe and grabbed his basket, heading to the showers.

Much to his surprise, Pete was already in there fixing his dreads. “Who let you out?”

“Oh! Mike and I were watching cartoons this morning. Adam and I showed him all the cool ones that had come out since he had last watched them. It’s so weird.” Pete shrugged. “I guess that’s just part of eternal life I guess.”

Ryan nodded slowly, taking a deep breath in through his nose. “Mind if I shower? I have a pretty important meeting with Gabe today, and I don’t want to – “

“Yeah, sure, go ahead. I thought you guys were more informal than all that though.”

“It’s a very important meeting, Pete,” Ryan scoffed. “Top secret.”

Pete nodded. “I get it. I know people probably don’t want to tell me stuff around here. Which is cool, I guess, but I think I’m pretty trustworthy, right?”

Ryan groaned, stepping into a shower stall and closing the exterior door behind him, cutting Pete off. He started the warm water, letting it saturate into his hair before grabbing the shampoo, letting his poofy brown waves suds up. He let the water soothe him, ignoring the prospects of the conversation he was preparing for later. It was going to be the most difficult conversation he ever had, and it wasn’t going to be pleasant for anyone involved, most certainly not Gabe. By the time he had finished showering, Pete had left the bathroom and he could finally do his make up in peace.

He loved Gabe like a father, so it only hurt more to know that soon, he would be the reason Gabe was hurting. He wanted to kill Pete the night he saw Gabe broken like that. He knew not even William’s death could have caused those tears.

He had been to the little boy’s funeral, after all. He knew what it meant to Gabe to watch him go.

He had just about finished his eyeliner when his make up on the right eye was suddenly jeopardized by the tears finding themselves pooling in his eyelids. He quickly grabbed a tissue, but it was a little too late. He didn’t mind starting over if it meant preparing himself for the grief that was yet to come.

When he returned to the bedroom, Brendon had laid out his suit and ironed his shirt. He met his husband with a gentle kiss on the lips, smiling sadly as he slipped on the freshly pressed clothes. “Thank you so much, babe. I really appreciate it. I can do your suit if you want to come- “

Brendon shook his head, pressing his head against his own. “This is up to you, Ry. William left it up to you. It’s okay. I know. It’s hard. This… this is going to be the hardest thing either of us has ever had to do. But William trusts you. I know he does. He wouldn’t have… he wouldn’t have chosen you otherwise,”

Ryan nodded, pulling away and picking up the file folder of papers waiting for him on the table by the door. “I know, Bren. Thank you.”

* * *

Ryan readjusted his tie, staring at the study door in front of him. The simple folder in his hands contained only two documents, but its weight was enormous. He cleared his throat, eyes closed in anticipation, and knocked.

The study door swung open in front of him. Enveloping him in the yellow glow of the lamps and candles inside. “Ryan, please, come in,” Gabriel’s voice beckoned, and the younger man crept inside. Gabe was wearing a soft black sweater with a pair of khakis, William’s favorite fur pelt thrown over his shoulder in a bizarre statement piece. He stroked it lovingly with his right hand, a mirror image of his husband. “Take a seat, please darling. I understand you have much to discuss with me.” Ryan swallowed hard, sitting down opposite the tall man. It was the same position William had sat across from his father in, almost 75 years earlier. He cleared his throat, placing the folder on his side of the table in front of him. Gabe sensed his tension, reaching for his hand. “I know that whatever you need to tell me is important. But I think it can wait five minutes for me to brew us a pot of tea,” He smiled, standing up and letting Ryan follow him to the kitchen.

“Yeah. Sorry I’m so nervous – “

“Please, Ryan, don’t apologize for your nerves. I couldn’t even begin to apologize for how much I’ve let my own emotions get ahead of me in the last few months. It’s been… It’s harder to handle than I would have liked.” Gabe set the tea kettle on the stove, removing two tea bags from the drawer. He leaned back against the counter, looking around the kitchen. It was just old enough to be considered vintage, rather than out of date, but the memories of William and his son brought along pangs of painful nostalgia that Gabe was far from ready to confront. Both of them knew it.

Ryan walked over and grabbed two teacups from the cabinet, both plain white with a black rim. They were cheap, but they were some of William’s favorites, something neither man overlooked. Gabe waited for the kettle to boil, watching as Ryan grabbed two bags from the drawer. The two men sipped their cups slowly, meandering their way back into the library without so much as a creak.

“You have something very important to discuss with me, I understand,” Gabe met Ryan’s gaze, eye’s meeting with a moment of sympathy. He handed Ryan his handkerchief, which Ryan placed in between them both. He knew they’d both need it.

“The night… the night of William’s last hunt,” Ryan couldn’t bring himself to say 'the night William was murdered'. “He… he took me aside before we left. And he… he handed me this.” He opened the file folder and handed over the affidavit William had signed, stating his intentions with the Dandies.

‘ _I, William Eugene Beckett II, along with my partner, Gabriel Eduardo Saporta Beckett, hereby put in my official statement of my retirement to the Dandies organization and renounce all legal control over the organization as a whole. I leave the organization to my second in command, George Ryan Ross III, as well as his partner, Brendon Boyd Urie. With the signing of this document, with Andrew Mrotek as my witness, I release all power to my second in command, and officially resign into retirement._ ’

Ryan watched as tears welled in Gabe’s small brown eyes, fingers tracing the paper all the way down to the bottom of the statement. Everything was filled out and signed in proper order, everything except the small line expecting the signature of his own name. “Ryan- “

“I’m so sorry Gabe, I really am,” Ryan grabbed his hand, watching the older vampire let the tears roll down his face. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why didn’t you or Butcher tell me?” His voice wasn’t accusatory or upset. It was small, and broken, and somehow that hurt more.

“We… _I_ needed some time to process it. I wasn’t even sure I was ready for it, after everything that happened,” Ryan felt his own voice crack, heart throbbing out of his chest. “He… he told me that he wanted to tell you once I was sure I’d take the job. He didn’t want your baby in danger anymore. He – “ Ryan broke to let out a sniffle into the handkerchief, “He was ready to be a full-time father. He was giving up everything to be her dad, and he was so excited to tell you. He wasn’t as careful that night because he was _happy_ , Gabe. How could I… how could I tell you that?”

Gabe’s eyes were closed, holding the letter to his chest for a second while the tears fell Ryan didn’t blame him as he held his hand and waited out the tears. He waited for the man to take a deep breath, squeezing Gabe’s still outstretched hand. “Ryan…” when he finally spoke, his throat sounded swollen shut, hoarse and dry as he choked out every word with pain. “He… he loved her so much – “

“Everything he did, he was going to do for her,” Ryan affirmed, clasping his hand. “I’m so sorry that it all ended up like this.”

Gabe nodded as he placed the paper back down on the table. “He wanted us to retire together?”

“He was looking at houses in New Jersey, even in Miami. He knew you loved it there. He was ready for your lives together with Genevieve to begin.”

“And instead it ended,” Gabe closed his eyes again, grabbing a pen from the desk drawer. It was one of William’s favorites, a sleek, gold, fountain pen with his name on the side. “Get Butcher. I think- “

Gabe was cut off by one of the worst sounds he had heard in the entire world, second only to his son’s cry of death. The alarm outside had sounded, one that he knew only meant one thing – Hunters were attacking the castle.

Ryan stood up, running to the safe and opening it for Gabe’s easy access. “Go, stick to protocol, we got this.”

Gabe nodded, disappearing, before reappearing a second later with his baby girl in his arms, and a thick black cloak around his neck. He pulled the hood tight, taking both the envelope, and the new folder Ryan had given him moments before.

“It’s okay. Run. We’ve got this.”

* * *

Joe watched as the vampires filed out in front of them. Their line of defense was small, only about six people, but Joe recognized all of them from William’s closest group. He turned to Patrick with a curt nod, watching as Andy readied himself as well. “On the count of three, one two – “

“Let’s go,” Andy started running towards the vampires’ line of defense. A well-dressed man with long black hair stepped forward, blocking Andy’s jabs. Joe and Patrick were too busy worrying about their own defense to heed too much attention in the dark to Andy’s attack, Joe leading the way with the holy water.

The spray caused two vampires to recoil, one yelping in pain and disgust and falling back to the ground, while the other lunged at Joe for a counterattack. Joe scampered back a little, watching as the vampire stumbled on his feet, eyes turning red with rage as Joe attempted to jog back to the car. Whatever Pete had told them was botched information. They were overnumbered and ill-equipped. If they didn’t get out of there now, they weren’t going to make it through what was supposed to be a quick and easy win. It felt like a set up- but Pete would never set them up, right?

The brown-haired vampire stepped into the light of the headlights from the car parked nearly a tenth of a mile up the road, and Joe recognized him as the man William was with the night he was slain. Joe grit his teeth as the brown-haired man lunged, baring his fangs in the headlights of the car. Joe jumped back, readying a stake from his pocket. His first mistake was keeping his back turned for too long, as the brown-haired vampire turned him around, leaping onto the roof of the car. Joe spotted him through the headlights, squinting in the dark, catching his wicked grin as he led to strike. This was his fatal mistake in the end, as he leapt to strike, he felt himself pulled back by an invisible force. Only too late, he would realize the force was that of a vampire behind him, pulling his shirt down to sink his fangs deep into Joe’s neck, sucking hard for the blood. Joe fell back, dropping the stake and yelping from the pain. The vampire on top of the car pounced, digging his teeth into the other side of Joe’s neck. Joe realized what was happening now, with no clue how to stop it. He was either becoming a vampire, or he was dying, and he knew he didn’t want, nor deserve, the first. He screamed, freezing both Patrick and Andy in their tracks. The two met each other’s eyes, knowing immediately that their plan had been botched. There was no rescuing Pete tonight, no killing the entire Dandy line, no cutting this thing off at the head. They had the choice to die fighting or walk away with their lives.

They ran.

They split up, both dashing off towards the woods surrounding the castle in different directions. Patrick made it about halfway across the lawn before he stumbled, ankle twisting in a sickening direction. He fell flat on his face, struggling to push himself up again. He gasped, trying not to cry as his ankle refused to take weight on it. His hear raced, working up the courage to see how far away the vampires coming to eat out his guts were. He pried one eye open, sighing in relief as no vampires were anywhere near him. His relief was cut short as his eyes were drawn to the car parked only a hundred yards away, where Joe’s mangled body was being torn apart. The vampires were growling, inhuman sounds escaping their monstrous lungs, filling the short man with terror as he watched his best friend’s lifeless skull get bashed against the grill of their rental car. He wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to explain that to the rental agency- then again, he wasn’t sure how he would explain any of this to Joe’s mom. He tried not to sob as he tore his eyes away, crawling slowly towards the forest, collapsing at the brink of exhaustion.

When he awoke the next morning, it all felt like a dream. He wasn’t here in Scotland, laying on the lawn of a vampire emperor, Joe wasn’t dead, and Pete was back home, with them. He knew it was all too true, however. It was all painfully real.

Andy was already seated in the right-side driver’s seat, eye’s glassy and blank. “They got away with another one, Stump.”

Patrick nodded bitterly, eyes welling with tears. “Let’s go home, Andy. I want to go home.”

* * *

Gabe held Genevieve close, praying her screams wouldn’t alert any potential hunters of their location. The shelter had been built during one of the world wars, before Gabe and William moved in full time in 1947. It had been his escape route just in case, regardless. It was mainly airtight, not that it was a concern for him as a vampire, but it was underground and in the forest, and the damp earth around the metal bunker was colder than his baby girl would have liked. He gently wrapped William’s fur around her, praying her tears would stop sometime soon. He knew she’d rather be outside, but he couldn’t bear to lose her. He opened the envelope, pulling out the small photo album inside, hoping to cure Evie’s anxieties as well as his own. “Hush, it’s okay, meyn sheifale. Look, here.” He opened the little book, showing it off to her as a story book. “That’s your daddy and your big brother Adrian. They won’t let anything happen to us. I promise. Look at how happy they are. Aren’t they adorable? You look so much like both of them,” he rambled, pressing his nose into her hair, damp eyes wetting the top of her head. “There’s your daddy and you when you were still in my tummy. That’s the only photo we have of you together. It’s pretty, isn’t it? He loved you so much.” He wiped his nose a little bit, taking a breath to compose himself.

“He was going to give it all up for you. He was going to leave it all behind.” He traced the photo carefully, sure not to let tears ruin it forever. About an hour later, Evie was asleep, and the phone rang in the shelter, dusty handle shaking with the sound.

“Yes?”

“The hunters are gone, Gabe. It’s safe to come back home.”

* * *

Gabe looked at the hunter’s body laid out before him in the courtyard. He was far from the first hunter that had died attacking the castle, but he was the first in a while. “Get a wood coffin ready. He’s Jewish, I’ll do the last rites best I can. I don’t have time for a full ceremony or ritual, but I can try my best.”

Ryan nodded. “Of course. Is Evie okay?”

“She’s fine, she just doesn’t like the dusty, and the bunker was a little dingy,” Gabe sighed. “How’s Brendon, is the holy water scar healing?”

“He’ll be fine. It wasn’t nearly enough. It was only three people, that isn’t enough,” Ryan looked down at the body. In the linen cloth, he looked cleaner, although he knew it was probably Gabe’s work. “I’m sorry all this shit happened.”

"I should have stayed to help you fight. I feel bad, dude, you needed my help and I left you-"

"William designed that escape plan, remember? At the end of the day, all he wanted was you and your baby girl safe. I stand by his wishes. Always will."

Gabe nodded slowly, shaking his head. “My baby girl could have died, Ryan. How the hell was I going to live on if I lost my daughter too?”

“I know… I wouldn’t have blamed you. I’m just so glad all of you are safe. She’s so… she’s a special baby girl, I don’t know what would have happened if something happened to her.”

Gabe agreed silently, staring back down at the body. “I'm going to write a letter to his mother. She deserves to know her son was honored by the enemy. I want... " He wiped his eye softly, handkerchief neglected long ago on the desk in the study. "I want people to realize we have hearts. We have children, we have God, we have lives. We bury our dead and respect our enemy." He sniffled a little, leaning down next to the body, letting a tear fall.

Ryan nodded, placing a gentle hand on Gabe's back. "I'm sure she'll appreciate that. I'll try and find his name, find out his family."

He wiped his eye, standing back up. His throat was raw from hours of crying, not that Ryan judged. "How did they even find us- “

“Pete. I mean, it's clear. It was so, obviously Pete,” Ryan’s tone turned sharp, piercing Gabe’s misery and forming it into rage. “They were his friends, all of them. I recognized them. I don't know their names. But they're hunters. _Pete's_ hunters.”

The fertile’s face turned sour, dark eyes nearly going black. He sniffled back in one last tear, shattered heart sharp as glass. “I think I know what I need to do, Ryan,” He growled through gritted teeth. “I think I need to have a talk with Wentz.”

* * *

Pete was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, when Gabe appeared at the foot of the bed. But it wasn’t Gabe, was it? His eyes were dark, his skin was pale and shady. He radiated cold, chilling the entire room. Pete felt his heart stop entirely, beating at maybe once per minute.

His body was frozen, petrified by the vampire’s wrath at the end of the bed. “How dare you!” He roared, voice unlike anything he had ever heard. It was still Gabe, though. Still, unmistakably Gabe.

“What are you talking about – " His breathing labored a little, black dots appearing in the corner of his vision. Gabe was draining him, fast. It was beginning to hurt. What was he supposed to do? The vampire was furious, and Pete knew he was far from innocent.

“After everything I told you? About losing my son, losing the love of my life, you _dared_ bring hunter to my castle? My daughter- the only thing I have left of everyone I ever loved could have _died_ and it will have all been your fault.”

“Gabe, I promise, it was all –“ Pete’s words were cut off, his voice abruptly shut off by the vampire’s magic.

“No. Pete, I gave you more chances than I’ve given anyone else in this world. All because William believed in you. Because he trusted you, and he believed that one day, you could be a great Dandy.” Gabe took a deep breath in. “But he was wrong. And because of you, I almost lost anything and everything important to me. I don’t know what I was ever possibly thinking.”

Pete sniffled. “Gabe- “

“I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to even think about listening to you ever again,” Gabe shuddered, shaking his head. “I was wrong, Pete. You will never, ever, be a Dandy.”

With that Gabe disappeared. And Pete knew this time, he wasn’t coming back.

* * *

_The ballroom was empty. Gabe walked slowly in laps around the perimeter, lighting every candle he saw. They had the expanse wired last decade, when they felt confident that the original craftsmanship could remain intact, but Gabe craved the familiarity of the candlelight._

_His long, velvet mourning gown poured over his frame, hugging his baby bump. The rain trickled miserably down the floor to ceiling windows, the night illuminated by a chance flash of lightning. Gabe sat on the marble floor, baby in his arms, and began to sob._

_The baby kicked softly, and he gently soothed her kicks, his breath hitching with each heart wrenching cry. It wasn’t fair- none of it was fucking fair. For the first time in forty-five years, William was going to be a father. Another one of Gabe’s few joys snatched away by hunters._

_“Daddy’s gone, my darling sheifale. Your daddy died protecting us. Protecting you.” Gabe sniffled, shaking his head. “No. Your daddy was taken from us. Taken from us by human beings who killed your big brother too. That only want to see us in pain.” He cradled his bump softly, sobbing at his baby’s every movement. “He never even got to meet his beautiful little girl. They took that from the both of you. From us.”_

_Eventually Brendon knocked on the wall. “Gabe? The teas ready. William’s favorite. The cinnamon chamomile. Remember?”_

_Gabe nodded, standing up. He sniffled softly._

_“Oh. Mr. Beckett, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you-“_

_“No. It’s okay Bren. I need… William wouldn’t want me to sulk like this. Right?”_

_Brendon nodded. “I’ll bring the tea to your room. On the table or the bedside stand?”  
_

_Gabe sighed softly. “The table would be lovely. Thank you. I just… I need a moment.”_

_“Take your time.” Brendon turned on his heels and walked away._

_Gabe sighed, rubbing his belly and looking out at the empty room. He caught the light of the diamond on his wedding band, heart breaking for the tenth time that day. He sniffled, chuckling softly._

_He looked out at the window and felt himself start to sway, as his baby girl pressed her little palm against his stomach. He held it gently, rocking her in his hips. “May I have this dance, Ms. Beckett?” He whispered, humming a gentle tune to his baby girl, letting the tears fall on the silent marble floors._

_He was all she had. No brother, no father, no one but him. Him and the spirits of a hundred angry vampires, ready to avenge the death of her father._

* * *

****

END PART I

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